From Russia With Love
by MissyMaestro
Summary: Though the U.S.S. Enterprise has a captive audience, Pavel Chekov has waited for two years to meet Dr. McCoy's young partner. When they finally meet by chance, things take off. The captain's watchful eye settles on the pair and the dynamic on board switches swiftly from amicable to downright terrifying.
1. Chapter 1

Yawning and stretching, Pavel Chekov rolled over and squinted at the display next to his bed. 6:03 A.M.. He briefly considered nuzzling back into bed, but thought better of it. The day was waiting and he was hungry.

The woman in bed beside him hadn't stirred. He smiled at the mop of blonde hair and leaned back, propping himself up on his elbow. Twisting one of long locks between his fingers, he softly declared, "It is time to get up."

"Hmm?" She stirred briefly then fell still again.

"Good morning! Wake up! It will be a good day today." He brushed his fingertips down her arm. "I'm starving! Do you want pancakes? I'm going to make them. How many do you want?" He closed his eyes and inhaled, enjoying the light, fresh scent of her.

"So hungover," the woman groaned into the pillow.

"I thought you might be. The pancakes will soak up the extra alcohol!" Chekov smiled fondly. The poor girl, wearing last night's clothes, was cradling her head.

"Okay," the woman replied, her voice muffled in the pillow. "This isn't my room," she realized. She lifted her head and squinted through raccoon eyes at him. "Oh, god."

Chekov grinned sheepishly. "Ah, no. It's my room. I'll make some breakfast for you! I'll come wake you up when they're ready. Go back to sleep. I'll wake you soon." He slid out of bed and padded quickly across the floor. Cold tile on bare feet was a surefire way to wake someone up. Humming to himself, Chekov showered off and got dressed, commenting "You are a fine-looking gentleman," to himself in the mirror before striding off to the kitchen and greeting everyone he saw along the way.

"Morning, Mr. Chekov!" Scotty greeted him over his coffee when he sauntered into the kitchen. "Particularly energetic spring in your step this morning." He winked. "Do I need to ask why?"

"No more than usual!" Chekov laughed as he pulled out the griddle. "I'm making pancakes! Do you want some?"

"What kind of man says no to pancakes?"

"Excellent! You make breakfast tomorrow, aye?"

"You do not want Montgomery Scotty to make the breakfast," Jaylah added from behind Scott, a coy smile on her face.

* * *

Back in Commander Chekov's room, Cat Greenberg was blinking herself awake. The sweet yet manly smell of the sheets reminded her of the previous night's events. Blurry memories flooded to the surface but didn't all connect. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. When she pulled her hands away and found them covered in black mascara, she sat up. The room spun slightly, but she stumbled to her feet and to the bathroom vanity to salvage herself.

Cat was Doctor McCoy's counterpart, but she scoffed at that idea. He was always running here and there with the crew, leaving Dr. Greenberg in the medical bay by herself. On most days that was fine; red shirts came in with cuts and burns and occasionally an illness would break out. Other days, when missions went awry, things got messy and it became clear that there were indeed supposed to be two doctors on duty.

Cat imagined what her nurses would say when she told them of her exploits. Everyone in the medical bay was obsessed, to put it lightly, with Commander Pavel Chekov. Cat had admired him from afar since her first day aboard the Enterprise nearly two years ago. Whether it was because he was her age or because of his knack for thinking through problems brilliantly, she couldn't put her finger on it. The nurses under her command swooned over his boyish good looks and fought over who would treat him, if he ever needed medical attention. Yet the man seemed fit as a fiddle and Dr. Greenberg had only ever bumped into him in the corridors and during meal times.

Running into Chekov the night before had been a complete fluke. The medical team was celebrating a nurse's birthday at the bar when Chekov had sauntered in. He ordered a drink and sipped it slowly as he video chatted with someone off-ship. The nurses elbowed each other and pushed up their cleavage. Cat stole glances at him every few minutes, wondering if he would engage the crowd of tittering females or simply go on his way. On her tenth glance his way, Chekov looked up and caught Cat's gaze. She quickly stared down at her drink and blushed.

"Cat," a human nurse named Emily sighed, "go talk to him." She sighed dreamily. "It's meant to be. You're the galaxy's youngest doctor. He's the youngest navigator. You're on the same ship. In the same bar. On the same night."

Cat rolled her eyes and leaned on the bar. "What would I say? 'Hey Commander, so you're a genius _and_ gorgeous, so that's a ten of ten for me?' Yeah, totally not awkward. May as well throw in there that I've totally been creeping on him since I stepped on board, huh?"

In lieu of a response, Emily was biting her lip and staring at something just past Cat's shoulder.

"What?" Cat asked, waving a hand in front of the nurse's face. She reached for her drink and wondered how many she'd had.

"Decter Greenberg," a thick, dancing accent came.

Cat spun around on her stool, knocking her drink to the ground in the process. "Oh!"

There he was. Pavel Chekov was perched on the bar stool next to her, smiling and waiting for her to respond. "I'm sorry! I did not mean to startle you," he offered sheepishly before reaching down and snatching the cracked glass from the floor before she could.

"No! I, it's, no," Cat stuttered as she wiped the errant drops of cocktail from her pants. Her cheeks burned. "Hi." She laughed nervously and quickly smoothed her long hair. Her lips were tingling and the room had spun a little when she turned about, but she took a deep breath to pull herself together.

"Hello." Chekov tapped his empty glass on the bar and nodded at the bartender. "Another, please, and another for ze beautiful decter." He turned back to Cat. "It's on me!"

Trying to hide her wide smile, she nodded. "That's too kind." Cat did her best to ignore the silence that had fallen over the rest of her party as they watched the long-awaited interaction.

Chekov noticed the audience too, and swallowed. Speaking to women had never been daunting to him, but this time was different. He'd invested hours in hypothetical conversations with the doctor. He was nervous. The alcohol had helped, but he couldn't help but second-guess every word that came out of his mouth. The crush of nurses suddenly surrounding them added extra pressure, but he cleared his throat and continued nonetheless. "Decter, I do not think I have seen you here. Ewer. What brings you out?"

"I've _told_ her she's really missing out!" Emily giggled. "No, she's always cooped up in the medical bay waiting for some dumb red shirt to hurt themselves."

"I am certain they keep you busy, Decter!" Chekov chuckled.

"You have no idea! But it's Freya's birthday," Cat answered. "The entire medical department is out, except for McCoy."

Chekov nodded. "I forget he works in the medical department, sometimes! He is always on ze bridge." As the bartender sat their drinks down, he grabbed his and raised it. "I am certainly glad you decided to come out. Here's to the most beautiful decter on the Enterprise and all of space."

Cat clinked her glass against his. "And to navigators too charming for their own good."

* * *

 _Now_  
Chekov whistled as he flipped pancakes and kept an eye on a pan of bacon. He did his best to keep his thoughts on the task at hand, but they kept wandering to the American girl. Since she'd come aboard the ship Pavel had found her breathtaking and personable, if only from afar. So young, and so advanced in her field. Any time someone had been hurt, he'd volunteered to escort them to the medical bay, hoping to finally meet her. Unfortunately the captain always squashed that plan. Now, a wide smile spread across his cheeks and he chuckled to himself. The evening had progressed much more quickly than he'd planned, but he couldn't pretend he was disappointed.

"All right, lad. You've been dancing around and the like all morning. I'm curious. Who was in your room last night?" Scotty blurted.

Jaylah stared at him in horror. "Montgomery Scotty. You do not ask to somebody that question. That is rude!"

"Yeah, well." Scotty winked at the girl. "Have _you_ seen him in such a mood?"

"Well, no," she conceded. "Maybe I do want to know. Was it the welder girl in your room to make you so happy? I have heard her talk about Pavel Chekov."

"No, no, no, it was the cook, the one who's always showing up and lurking around when the lad's in the break room." Scotty guessed. "Right?"

Before Chekov could answer, Jaylah shook her head and blurted out, "The electrician. She asks me always about Pavel Chekov."

"And the black haired engineer. Maybe both of them?" Scott stroked his chin. "They're good mates, always together."

Chekov raised an eyebrow. "You think I have all of these women?" He laughed, then fell quiet as he realized they were serious. "No, no! Maybe zey talk about me, but I haff not- I haff no idea!"

"You did not know?" Jaylah replied. "These women think you to be handsome man. Maybe they are not wrong."

The tips of Chekov's ears burned red. "These women- zey haff said nothing to me!" He plated a few pancakes and popped them in the oven to keep them warm. "Does ze crew think I haff all of zese women?"

"Who has what?" Sulu asked as he walked in.

"Mr. Chekov is quite the ladies' man," Scotty replied. "He doesn't seem to believe it."

"Of course everyone thinks that," Sulu answered nonchalantly. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down.

"Oh chert voz'mi! No! I am not!" Chekov gasped. He shook his head frantically. "I do not want ze crew to think zis! I go on some dates, yes, but-"

"Didn't I see you getting thrown out of an Orion girl's room not too long ago?" Sulu asked as he poured a cup of coffee. "Literally thrown?"

Chekov's cheeks turned the color of his ears. "Aye, Mr. Sulu, but-"

"Why she throw you?" Jaylah asked.

"I – I do not know!" Chekov rubbed the back of his neck. "Please, no more! This is different. Really!" He flipped a short stack onto a plate and slid it across the table to Scott. "Please, do not give ze decter this impression. I do _not_ womanize the ladies! I have respect!"

"Doctor?" Jaylah repeated.

"Doctor Greenberg?" Sulu asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "You and Doctor Greenberg?"

The smile quickly reappeared on Chekov's face. "Always I have found her so beautiful and kind, but never got ze chance to talk to her! Can you believe we were in the same place and same time finally?"

"Good on you, laddie!" Scott exclaimed through a mouth full of pancake.

"Thanks." He rummaged through the cupboards until he found a tray. "Now I am bringing her breakfast. Please, do not make her believe zese stories!"

Scotty and Jaylah exchanged smiles as Pavel marched out the door.

* * *

 _Five Hours Ago_  
The drinks had flowed, egged on particularly by the medical department. "Another round! The doctor never comes out!" "One more!" "To the doctor!"

"Dector," Chekov laughed, his accent even thicker now due to the alcohol, "I would hate for you to go bek and hide in ze medical bay. Will I see you again?"

Cat laughed and finished the rest of her sex on the beach. "Maybe if you get sick. Some of us don't get to run all over the Enterprise during work hours."

"Perheps I get injury. Is wery dangerous werk in a starsheep," Chekov suggested with a wink. As Cat giggled, he cocked his head. "What is so funny?"

"Your accent!" the doctor replied. "It's so cute." She laughed. The conversation had been easy, but that was likely due to the fact that she was drunk when he'd walked in. Now she had tried to dial up the charm without revealing her year-long crush.

"I think yours is cute," Chekov replied. "Where een America are you from? This is not an Iowa accent like ze keptain."

"Minnesota," Cat said, pronouncing the "o" with extra oomph. "The accent doesn't come out much unless I've been drinking."

"I love it! Zen we'll drink more! Anuzzer round, please!" Chekov called to the bartender. "Two wodka's, neat."

"Ooh, I don't know," Cat hesitated. "I have to work in the morning! Vodka's so strong."

"C'mon, Cat!" Emily exclaimed over the dull roar of chatter. "You can't stop now! One more!"

"I hawe to work, too! This will be ze last round." Chekov reached out and squeezed the doctor's shoulder. "It is not late, it is only-" he checked the clock and did a double take. "Okay, zes is _definitely_ ze last round."

A moment later Cat squeezed her eyes shut and slammed back the vodka when the bartender sat it before her. "Oof-da." She pursed her lips and waited while she was assured the alcohol would stay down. Her medical experience told her she'd be very drunk when she stood up, but Cat figured she was allowed one night out.

Chekov drank down his drink and smacked his lips. "Perfect way to end ze night!"

 _It's now or never!_ Pouting her lips, Cat batted her eyes at Chekov. "It's too bad it has to end." The words shocked her as she spoke them. _You go, girl._

Emily giggled and rolled her eyes from beside Cat. "Doctor, I'll see you in the morning. You're all right?"

Cat nodded. "Right as rain." She giggled then held on to the bar to steady herself. "Whoa. Maybe right as wodka," she laughed, slapping Chekov's arm and letting her arm rest there.

Chekov laughed. "How do you say-" he scrunched up his nose and attempted a Minnesotan accent: "you betcha?"

"Have a good night," Emily called as she strolled out with the rest of the nurses. "Wouldn't want my supervisor to see me out so late!" She winked before turning out the door.

"Decter, where is your room? I'll escort you back." Chekov said, giving his head a slight shake to steady himself. "I learned ze hard way to make sure to heve backup when going home from ze bar. Ze hallways all look ze same – you'll wander for hours."

Cat sighed. The evening had been fun, but now she wasn't certain when she'd get a chance to see Chekov again. Their paths rarely crossed. Who knew the next time they'd run into each other? She stood and stumbled into the bar. "Oops." Laughter bubbled up and out of her and she snorted. _Here comes the alcohol._

Chekov smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You're okay, I've got you!" He steered her toward the corridor. "Decter -"

"No, not doctor! I'm not doctoring right now," she replied. "Call me Cat!"

"Cat," Chekov repeated. "I like zat."

"I like you." Cat giggled and stumbled along, knowing damn well she wouldn't remember this point of the night tomorrow morning. The thought struck her as hilarious. Her laughter continued until she was doubled over in the corridor, holding onto the man's arm for support.

Though he had no idea what was so funny, Pavel caught the contagious giggle and was soon leaning against the wall and laughing just as hard as she was.

"Excuse me," a voice came. "This is a residential sector and it's definitely past quiet hours," one of the night crew scolded the pair.

"Off course, off course," Chekov answered. "My apologies. We are coming from a birthday party!"

"Well please move along," the yellow shirt replied, scowling. "I'm surprised you haven't been ticketed already for being so disruptive."

"Come, what sector is your room in?" Chekov asked, quickly wrapping an arm around Cat's waist as she hobbled back and forth in her high heels. "I need to make sure you do not break your ankle in zose shoes!"

"Block J," Cat replied through her laughing. "And my shoes are perfectly fine!"

"Zey look fine, but you are not walking so fine." Chekov pulled her closer, afraid she'd take a wrong step and break her leg. "I've got you, decter! We'll be at Block J in no time."

Cat giggled. "I couldn't think of a better scenario." She tossed her hair and flashed Chekov a smile. He smiled back, but his expression quickly changed to horror as Cat tripped, squeaked, and landed on her hands and knees with a _thud_.

"Cat!" Pavel exclaimed, dropping to his knees beside her. "Cat, Cat! Are you okay?"

Embarrassed but unhurt, Cat nodded and sat up, trying to stifle laughter. "My fuck me shoes have never betrayed me before! Damn shoes!" she exclaimed. She fussed with the heel's buckles, but quickly realized she was too drunk to take them off.

Chekov gently brushed her hands away and squinted in concentration as he fussed with the buckles. "Your _what_ shoes _?"_

Cat exploded in laughter once more, gasping for breath as she guffawed. Though she realized she was a drunk mess, she couldn't control her laughter. _Better than being a mean drunk,_ she thought happily to herself.

"That's it-" a voice came from down the hall. "You're both getting ticketed. I warned you to keep it down!"

"No!" Chekov exclaimed. "I have a clean record! I cannot get a ticket!" He pulled Cat to her feet. "Come on! Come on!"

Cat snatched her shoes from the ground and followed. Pavel grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. "Hurry!" He pounded down the hallway, throwing glances over his shoulder every few steps.

"Hey, stop!" the yellow shirt yelled down the hall. "I order you to!"

"Come!" Pavel looked over his shoulder and gasped. "He is wery fast! Come on, Cat! In here!" He pulled her down a corridor and continued to run.

A wide smile spread across Cat's face. It had been a long time since she'd misbehaved, and it had certainly never been on the Enterprise. "Where do we go?"

"Almost there," Pavel exclaimed.

"I order you to stop!" the yellow shirt's voice came.

"We almost lost him! Go, go, go!" Cat exclaimed. She followed Pavel around another corner and collided with him when he suddenly came to a stop.

Pavel's hands flew over the security keypad. When the door opened, he ducked inside and pulled Cat with him. They gave a unison sigh of relief as the doors slid shut and left them in a dark room.

"Don't you think he knows who we are?" Cat panted. She searched for Chekov's face in the darkness and identified it thanks to the ambient glow from a display screen somewhere in the room.

"Maybe he does," he replied. When Pavel caught his breath, he realized how close Cat was to him. _I didn't let go,_ he thought in surprise _._ His hands were still on her hips from when he'd pulled her inside. He looked up to see her biting her bottom lip and gazing at his. "Decter," he breathed. His heart thudded and he suddenly became aware of how loud the pounding was.

Though she was drunk, Cat was thinking clearly enough to know this was better than she'd ever imagined, and Pavel Chekov was as intriguing as she'd always hoped. "Come here," she whispered seductively as she wrapped her arms around her neck and pressed her lips against his. The hardness of his body was everything she'd fantasized about.

Pavel eagerly pressed his palms against the small of Cat's back. A warmth spread from his chest and threatened to pull his lips into a smile. Instead, he returned the kiss, which was quickly evolving from curious and cautious to passionate and fiery. _My God! So soft! So plump!_ Pavel momentarily worried about his vodka breath, but the thought had left his mind a moment later.

When he wrapped his arms around the small of the doctor's back, Cat shifted her weight and pressed against the motion of the kiss and the darkness of the room was the final blow to Cat's compromised balance. The room spun and she staggered to the side, breaking the kiss with a soft "oof!"

As Pavel held fast to her waist to keep her upright, Cat giggled. "Sorry, oh, geeze." Her face grew hot and she knew she was blushing for the twentieth time that night.

"Do not be sorry," Pavel replied breathily, a soft smile on his face. He took a breath and cleared his throat. "I think we stay here- that yellow shirt will be out there waiting for us. I do not want to get you a ticket." He laughed nervously.

"It'd sure be the talk of the ship. Where are we?" Cat asked, stepping back and looking around.

"Ah, is my room," Pavel said cautiously. "I do not mean to-"

Raising an eyebrow at Pavel, Cat coyly cut him off, "Don't worry. I don't think you're a scoundrel." She reached out and touched his chin. "You're too cute."

"Aye-yi," Pavel breathed, puffing out his cheeks and exhaling slowly. He cleared his throat and flipped the lights on. "Make yourself comfor-" he started. An instant later, his words were muffled by Cat's lips against his. He surrendered into her kiss and let his hands slowly feel their way down her body. "I am _wery_ glad you decided to come out for once," he muttered as they stumbled across the room and collapsed onto the bed.


	2. Tipsy

_6:30 AM_  
The dark circles under her eyes all but screamed "Late night! Scandal!"

Cat sighed at her reflection and wondered if she should slip out of Commander Chekov's room and pretend she'd never been there at all. _Then again,_ she thought, _that'll ruin my future chances with him._ Glancing at the clock, Cat groaned and continued to fuss with her appearance in the mirror; smoothing wrinkles, braiding her hair and pushing up her cleavage. Her shift in the medical bay began at 8:00. She could always pull a McCoy and avoid her duties all together, but that wasn't in her nature. She hoped Chekov would return with breakfast soon, if only so that she could be on her way.

Last night's events were fuzzy, and the longer she waited for Pavel to return, the more her stomach churned in nervous anticipation. Conversation had been easy at the bar, five drinks in, but hungover and after a night of activities she couldn't quite recall? _This will be rough._  
Hoping to calm her nerves and against her better judgment, Cat gingerly opened the medicine cabinet and poked through the supplies therein. Hair gel. Shaving cream. Deodorant. She smiled. _Nothing incriminating. Good._

"Breakfast is ready!" a voice came from behind her.

Cat jumped, her hand clearing an entire shelf into the sink. "Jesus," she hissed, spinning around and putting a hand on her chest. "You're going to give me a heart attack."

"What are you looking for?" Pavel asked, cocking his head to the side. "Oh," he continued before she could answer, "I'm out of mouth wash."

"Yeah, that's it," Cat sheepishly agreed, quickly trying to rearrange everything onto the shelf. "I'm sorry. I thought -"

"Oh, leave it!" Pavel exclaimed. "It's fine, I'll get it later. Breakfast is on ze table!" Pavel pointed to the kitchenette. "I didn't know if you'd want coffee or orange juice, so I brought both." He smiled sweetly and nodded toward the table. "Won't you join me?"

Cat gave a nervous laugh and stepped back into the living room. Her cheeks were burning red, but she tried to muster some of the confidence she wore the night before. "You really made all this?" she asked, genuinely surprised at the tray of fluffy pancakes and perfectly crispy bacon. "Everything smells great. I haven't had an _actual_ breakfast in ages." She smiled at him, then laughed in surprise when he swooped in front of her and pulled out her chair. "You're too much."

"Not at all," Chekov shrugged, taking his own seat and digging in. "Like I said, you were haffing a rough morning. Zis is ze least I can do. I'm afraid ze extra drinking last night was my fault." He paused, then grinned and added, "and ze fact zat we may be on ze night security crew's list."

Cat groaned and slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh, geeze. That was my fault. I forgot." She took a bite of pancakes and nodded. "These are amazing. Thank you. Who knew anyone in this place could cook? I wouldn't let anyone know or you'll get pulled off the bridge and put in the kitchen."

Pavel shrugged the compliment off. "Oh, I always liked to cook." Still, he smiled at how enthusiastically she was eating. As he'd carried the tray back to his room, he'd worried that the doctor would have snuck back to her own room. Seeing her high heels by his door had been a relief. Following the incident with the Orion girl (which still had him baffled), Chekov had doubted himself and wondered whether he'd mistaken the doctor's kindness for interest.

The pair ate, content in the silence. Behind them, the rumpled bedsheets told a much more innocent narrative than Pavel was certain was spreading through the crew. Before he could figure out a way to bring it up, Cat did.

"I don't want to hear the stories my nurses are probably going to tell each other all day about last night." The doctor laughed softly. "Here I thought I wasn't exciting enough to ever make the rumor mill." She willed herself not to blush as she strained to imagine what had taken place after they took refuge from security in the room.

"Aye," Pavel agreed. He cleared his throat and tried to stop the scene from last night that was playing in his head: the doctor straddling him on his bed and pushing him onto his back, her smart black blazer more seductive than any piece of lingerie could have been. _Stop!_ "Ze bridge crew was in ze kitchen and I don't think they beliewed me about last night. I didn't mean for zese rumors!" he said, the words bumping into one another and accent thickening as he grew nervous and spoke more quickly. "I promise I did not plan to-"

Cat smiled and waved a hand through the air. "Oh, I know," she interrupted him cheerfully. "No worries." Truly unphased, she continued eating.

"Good." He bit his bottom lip and reached for the coffee. Instead of sitting across from him, suddenly Dr. Cat Greenberg was a memory at front of his mind, pulling his shirt off and tossing it onto the floor, scooping to press her lips to his neck. _"Cat, maybe we should-" "Should have met years ago."_ He'd tipped his head back and shivered in pleasure at the touch of her warm lips and smooth fingertips on his skin.

"Pavel."

He gave his head a shake and looked up. "Y-yes?"

Cat was once again before him, the look of seduction replaced by concern. "Are you all right?" She'd set down her fork and was studying his face intensely. "You look a little – something. Do you feel okay?" She reached out and touched his cheek. "You're quite warm."

"Ah, aye, aye," Pavel quickly replied, ducking away from her touch. "Fine! I'm fine." When he saw she wasn't buying it, he grinned and scratched the back of his neck. "Perheps just nervous. I haff never made breakfast for-" Suddenly the ship lurched violently to the side, cutting Pavel off and sending their plates gliding across the table. "What ze-?" Pavel glanced at the clock as the ship leveled out. "Ze night crew should still be on. Maybe someone just knocked ze con." He hoped that was true. "Nothing to worry about."

Cat nodded, giving her head a slight shake. "Either that, or this is one hell of a hangover." She laughed and pushed his plate back to him. It didn't matter. When the ship dipped again, more violently, the plates crashed to the floor and shattered. Loose furniture skidded and tumbled into walls. Pavel cried out and tried to avoid landing on Cat as they both fell sideways and landed with _thuds_ among the furniture.

"I should go," Pavel and Cat both exclaimed at the same time. They exchanged a brief grin, then scrambled for their gear.

Cat was pulling on her heels and regretting not having her flats when another violent lurch sent her tumbling. "Oof da," she grunted as she landed against the door. She squeaked when Pavel skidded into her.

"I'm sorry!" he panted as he rolled off of her and tried to right himself. The ship lurched again, leaving the ship completely sideways with the door beneath them where the floor should be. Pavel slipped and landed with his hands on either side of Cat's head. His nose inadvertently brushed against hers.

Cat felt her breath catch in her chest. A flash of last night's events swam before her eyes. Despite the situation, she found herself weighing the pros and cons of kissing the man hovering over her. Her hands came to rest, gently coiled around his forearms.

Pavel steadied himself and gave a lopsided smile. _Zis is bad. Zis is really bad,_ his brain pleaded. _We need to get to ze con. Immediately._ Yet he couldn't bring himself to move away from the doctor. The temptation and anticipation of their potential first sober kiss was intoxicating and if it could be bottled, Pavel knew he could be a millionaire.

 _He isn't moving,_ Cat thought eagerly. _Kiss him._ She let her eyes flutter closed as she raised up to catch his lips.

"Chekov! You all right? We need you to the bridge immediately!" a voice came over the intercom.

Cat's eyes snapped open in time to see Pavel frown in disappointment. "Yis, I'm comink, Keptain!" he called out. "It may take several minutes, but I'm comink."


	3. Space Sick

**7:00AM**  
Cat half climbed, half crawled her way to the medical bay and sighed in relief to see the rest of the medical crew there. The ship had remained sideways, the walls suddenly acting as the floor.

"Day crew! Thanks for getting here. Night crew- stay on for the time being until we figure out what's going on." She nodded and watched as the crew went back to recovering the bay. Cat scooped and picked up medical supplies from the floor and tried to figure out how they'd treat potential patients with the beds stacked like shelves on the floor, which was now the wall.

"So," Emily's voice came, dripping with scandal. "I see you didn't have a chance to change into your scrubs yet. Or out of last night's clothes." She wiggled her eyebrows and tossed a handful of supplies into a container under her arm. "Tell me everything."

"There's nothing to tell. We ended up running from a security officer and hiding in his room. Nothing happened. Nothing like _that,_ anyway." She cleared her throat and noisily let her supplies clatter into Emily's container.

"Oh, nothing like _that,_ but _something._ " Emily shimmied slightly. "Something like that. You going to see him again? Or was it bad?"

"There's no _it_ ," Cat replied in a hiss. "Shh!" She glanced around to ensure no one else was listening. "We're at work! I'm your boss! Quit it!"

Emily shrugged. "Oh. So you aren't seeing him again. Well, at least you-"

"I didn't say that," Cat quickly recovered, sensing her friend already planning her move on Chekov. "He's sweet. He knew I was hungover so he made me breakfast. Like – _made breakfast._ He didn't pick anything up from the canteen."

"Wow," Emily breathed. "Wonderboy might be just as great as we've thought. You sure you're seeing him again? I haven't had an actual breakfast since Earth. Wow, when _was_ that?"

A bell rang and the intercom screens lit up, flashing Pavel Chekov's face across the room. Cat couldn't help but smile and bite her lip.

"Speak of the devil," Emily commented as they turned to hear the announcement.

* * *

 **7:05 AM**  
On the bridge, Captain Kirk was preparing for the ship's gravitational systems to be reset, which entailed turning the gravity off completely before dropping everyone 90 degrees and back to normal. The system had malfunctioned and left the ship on its side, but still fully operational.

Chekov held fast to his spot on the bridge and quickly spoke his authentication code, swearing when he had to enter it twice. _Again._ "May I haff your attention, please!" He was hovering over the camera awkwardly, but thanked his luck that the ship hadn't lurched to the other side, or he'd be unable to reach his station at all. "We haff experienced a problem in ze grawitational systems. We will be resetting ze system momentarily. Please ensure you are in safe place for ze realignment. Normal grawity will return momentarily in t-minus ten meenutes. Thank you."

* * *

 **7:15 AM**  
Everyone in the medical bay had braced themselves as best as possible, but the group shared a common sentiment: _get ready for injuries._

It was obvious when the systems turned off. Cat's stomach churned at the sudden weightlessness as her feet left the ground. There was nowhere to strap into in the medical bay, except for the patient beds. A few of the nurses floated over to them and strapped in, but everyone else was left trying to position themselves by the floor.

A groan croaked across the ship and before anyone could react, the gravity pulled people, objects, and furniture back to the rightful place on the floor. When the commotion stopped, a nurse groaned and pinched his nose as blood trickled from it. As his coworkers moved to treat the break, Cat began stocking carts and prepping beds. "We'll have more broken noses and hopefully nothing worse than some gashes. Battle stations, folks."

* * *

 **8 AM**  
"Mr. Chekov. Hey- _Chekov."_ Uhura rolled her eyes. "Pavel!"

Pavel spun around. "Aye! Lieutenant?"

The lieutenant gave him a concerned once-over. "Are you okay? I've asked for the coordinates about three times. Feeling a little gravity sick?"

"I'm okay! Sorry," Chekov replied sheepishly, quickly dialing up the coordinates. "It's been an exciting morning, that is for certain."

"So I heard," McCoy replied as he strolled by. He winked at Sulu. "You'll have to give my regards to Doctor Greenberg, by the way. I don't get into the medical bay as often as I probably should. She's a good kid, though. She can certainly handle herself."

Chekov cleared his throat. "Dector Greenberg? No. I meant ze-"

"Give it up," Sulu replied plainly. "Once one person knows, the entire Enterprise knows."

Chekov glanced to Uhura, who shrugged and nodded.

"You may as well have said _that_ on the intercom," Sulu chuckled. "'Please keep your hands off of the doctor. We're going steady. Thanks.' It would clear up questions anyone has on the status of things."

"Ah," Chekov managed. He snapped his mouth shut and tried to focus on the screen in front of him. A response wouldn't come to mind, so he continued to stare.

"Don't worry, kid." McCoy slapped him on the back. "She's married to her work. I don't think you'll have anything to worry about with her. Like I said: she's a good kid. I'll be in my office, if anyone needs me."

"Aye, she's wery intelligent," Pavel mumbled as McCoy left the bridge. He dialed up the flight pattern analytics and tried to calculate their arrival time at the next system. Instead of numbers, another flash of last night played across his mind. _Cat grinding her hips against his, her jeans hanging low on her hips and her black bra stark against her porcelain skin in the ambient light. He noted a tattoo on her ribs and reached out to trace it. Galaxy swirls. The ends of her long blonde hair brushed against his hands and he never wanted to let her go. As Cat continued to swivel her weight back and forth on him, he felt more and more intoxicated, and the vodka wasn't to blame._

"Chekov!"

Pavel blinked. "Sorry, repeat zat?"

Kirk was standing behind him, his arms crossed over his chest. "I said to get back to work. You've been staring at the wall for a good two minutes."

"Off course! I'm wery sorry!" Chekov stared at the console, having forgotten what he was doing. "Oh, zat's right. Yes. Okay. Back to ze conn. Uh, okay."

"Actually," Kirk said, "why don't you go get checked out? You're definitely looking a little space sick. Get a little scrambled in the anti-grav? Do me a favor and have Dr. Greenberg check you out."

"No, keptain! I am perfectly fine. I'm sorry." Chekov didn't see any signs of humor on Kirk's face. He looked harder. The captain wasn't usually one to pick on anyone, let alone about the inter-crew relations. "I'll get beck to work!"

"Nah, I think you should pop down to the medical bay. Just a once-over. Better safe than sorry." He shrugged. "To the medical bay, Mr. Chekov. That's an order."

Chekov hopped to his feet and waited. When no one laughed or called the captain's joke, he turned and headed for the medical bay, hoping he wasn't demoted to a red shirt again for his inattention.

* * *

 **8:15 AM**  
"Is there anyone else?" Cat asked a nurse, who shook his head. "Great," Cat replied. "That could have been much worse. If the worst injury was a broken arm, I say we fared pretty well." She sat back and sighed as the last patient went on her way. "Night crew, get outta here. Thanks for staying on."

"One more coming in," one of the night nurses called out as he walked to his locker.

"Thanks," Cat said, jumping up and heading to the lobby. She grinned and cocked her head to the side when she saw a man sitting in the waiting room, casually strewn out in the chair. "Pav- Mr. Chekov. Are you all right? What happened?" Though butterflies were fluttering in her stomach, she was in medical mode and her instinct to assist people was on hyper drive. She looked him over and found no immediate visible signs of distress.

"I- I, it's wery silly. Ze keptain said I was not acting like myself and he sent me here. It was an order!" he exclaimed. "I am sorry, I don't mean to waste your time."

"You do have a knot on your forehead," Cat said, reaching out and brushing back his hair. She wrinkled her nose. The swelling was already turning a greyish hue of purple. "Do you remember hitting your head? Come on back to an exam room."

"A- what?" Chekov reached up and felt a sizable bump at his hairline. He winced and drew his hand back. "Okay." He stood and followed Cat back to a room, unable to ignore the realization that she was still wearing last night's clothes. He did his best to not let his mind wander.

Emily popped into the exam room and ran over a list of personal information. She frowned when it took a moment for Chekov to confirm everything was current.

"What were you doing when the grav reset?" Cat asked, pulling up a stool and looking at the lump on his head again.

"I was on ze bridge," Chekov replied. He took a deep breath to steady himself, but Cat's floral scent filled his nostrils, leaving him pleasantly surprised and reminded - again - of the previous evening.

"Do you remember where you were before that?" Cat sat before him and flicked a flashlight back and forth between his eyes. When he squinted and held up a hand to block the light, Cat frowned. "Mr. Chekov. Before you were on the bridge, can you remember what you were doing?" She sat back and jotted a few notes on his file.

Pavel nodded. "Off course! I was," he hesitated, then a look of understanding passed his face. "I was with you!" He gave a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, sorry," he muttered, uncertain whether her nurses were privy to their slumber party.

"Good," Cat replied. "Can you read that eye chart on the wall behind me?" She moved out of the way. "Top line to bottom line, please."

Squinting, Pavel slowly began to read, taking time between each letter to evaluate it. Cat and Emily exchanged glances. "Certainly not what I was hoping for," Emily said.

"Wha- what?" Pavel stuttered, looking between the women. "Am I okay?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to keep you here for the time being," Cat said, giving the nurse a disapproving look. "You experienced some minor head trauma." The alarmed look on his face made Cat smile. She reached out and before she knew what she was doing, rested her hand on his knee. "Just a concussion. Nothing to worry about. I just want to keep an eye on you to make sure it's not more severe than it seems. Routine protocol."

Emily smiled. "Funny that a few hours after bragging about never needing to come here, you end up the only one we're keeping after a ship-wide event." She sighed happily. "Funny how things happen, huh? I'll leave Dr. Greenberg to it, then. I'm certain there's something I need to put away."

Pavel nodded, then made a face. "Actually, I thought I was just nerwous, but I think I'm going to be sick."

In an instant, Emily had a pail in his hands. "Change of plan. I'll call the captain and let him know we're keeping you here," she said, excusing herself.

As Chekov retched into the pail, he could only curse his luck that this happened on Cat's shift. As much as he'd worried that morning about whether she'd want to see him again, he wished McCoy was the doctor in the bay. This added to his concerns that Cat would write him off. First impression – he'd gotten drunk and brought her to his room. Second impression – throwing up in a bucket in front of her. "I'm sorry," he panted. Sweat beads formed on his face and neck and he surrendered to the fact that he had indeed felt off since the gravity reset. He squeezed his eyes shut as his head began to pound. "Zis is not how I thought our next date would go." He coughed and spit before retching again.

 _Date?_ Cat thought gleefully to herself. _He wants another date._ "Nothing I haven't seen before," she replied, sounding much too excited. Ignoring the retching sounds, she retrieved an ice pack and applied it to the back of the man's neck as he bent over the pail. "Probably doesn't help a whole lot that you're likely a little dehydrated after last night. I'll hook you up to an IV in a sec."

Not looking up, Pavel nodded and spit into the bucket.

"Let's try fluids before we hit the painkillers, okay?" Cat tossed extra blankets and pillows onto the bed and raised the head up. While she prepped the IV, she noticed a few nurses huddled together and waggling their eyebrows at her. "Get back to work, please," she called. "I'm certain the drawers and supplies need organizing after getting jostled around. And the walls need cleaned after being tread all over."

"Cat- Dector," Pavel said. "Doesn't zis mean I have to stay awake all night?"

"You can sleep now," Cat replied. "Your concussion doesn't seem to be that severe. You won't slip into a coma. Not on my watch." She smiled and took the pail from his hands. "I'll pop in the IV and you can catch up on your sleep. Geeze," she realized, "dehydrated _and_ exhausted and probably all my fault. Some doctor I am, huh?"

"It was worth it," Pavel replied with a grin as he lie down and closed his eyes.

* * *

 **11:30 AM**  
Someone was touching his hand. "Pavel, hey. Mr. Chekov?"

He opened an eye to see Cat Greenberg above him. "Good morning. You are going to work?" He held her hand and nestled back into the pillow. "You should stay."

Cat giggled. "I did go to work. You're in the medical bay. Do you remember why you're here?" She unwove her fingers from his, careful not to bump the IV in the top of his hand.

"Oh, zat's right," he mumbled into the pillow. "Concussion. But I am being treated by ze most beautiful doctor." He opened an eye and grinned. "Do I go back to work now, Dector?"

"No, you can go back to sleep. It will help. I just had to check on you." Cat made a note on his chart. "How's your head? Do you want anything for the pain?"

"No, it feels better," Chekov replied. "Are you certain I can sleep more? Ze captain-"

"Kirk is the one who sent you here," Cat replied. "He understands why I'm keeping you. Get some more sleep. I'll check back in a few hours." She scribbled something else onto the chart and tucked it back at the foot of his bed.

Pavel sleepily watched her. She'd changed into scrubs and her white coat and had tied her hair into a long braid. As she adjusted his IV, she was humming softly to herself and swaying back and forth. Affection radiated in Chekov's chest and he called after her as she began to walk away. "Cat?"

The doctor turned back. "Hmm?"

"I would loff to have dinner soon, with you. I'll cook something for you, if you would like. Or when we dock. Or both! A date." He drew in a breath and waited for the answer.

"Ask me again in two hours when I check on you and I'll let you know." Cat disappeared with a smile.


	4. O Captain, My Captain

The next morning Chekov stretched in the medical bay bed and groaned at the throbbing in his head.

"Good morning," Emily's voice came. "Sounds like you've got some pain."

"I do," Chekov replied, squeezing his eyes shut and massaging his forehead. "How did you know?"

"I'll get you something for that, then we'll have breakfast brought in." Emily opened a cabinet and sorted through the bottles for a painkiller. "Dr. Greenberg wanted you to stay here today. You can sleep in your own bed and go back to work tomorrow." When she noticed the navigator cradling his head, she grabbed an ice pack.

"Thank you," Pavel mumbled as Emily brought over the supplies and pressed the icepack to his forehead. He greedily gulped down the painkillers. Opening an eye, he scanned the room.

"Sorry to disappoint, but Cat is off on Fridays." Emily smiled knowingly. "You're stuck with me and Bones today." When a blush spread in the man's cheeks, she shook her head. "Oh, quit. I think you two were the last on the ship to know that the other had been not-so-secretly in love since the day Cat came on board." She stood up and jotted the medication details on the chart at the foot of the bed. "Don't think we didn't notice she came in yesterday wearing the previous night's clothes."

"Aye-yi-yi," Pavel grumbled. "Everyone on thees ship is obsessed with-"

"Sex, yeah." Emily cut him off. "Did you do it? You know her, acting all coy and 'we're at work, stop talking about sex.'"

Chekov opened his eyes and stared at her. "If Dr. Greenberg did not say anything, why would I disrespect her like zat by telling you? Doesn't this break patient-doctor confidentiality?"

"Maybe, but I'm not a doctor," Emily replied smartly. "So tell me. Cat acted like nothing happened."

"If she wants to tell you, she will tell you!" Pavel winced and massaged his temple. "How long will zis pain last? I don't think I hit my head that hard."

"I'm Cat's best friend. You can tell me," Emily tried again. "Are you going to go out again? Was it _bad?_ " the nurse wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Pavel closed his eyes. "A gentleman does not kiss and tell, sorry!"

The nurse crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Fine. I'll send Bones over when he gets in. Maybe _he'll_ be able to get something out of you. It shouldn't even be this hard! You've got a brain injury!"

Pavel pulled he icepack over his eyes and ignored the girl's exasperated sighs.

* * *

Captain Kirk stared across the table at his second medical officer. "So. You're bangin' my navigator."

Dr. Greenberg choked on the water she'd just taken a drink of. The captain, and her old childhood friend, had invited her to lunch in the ship restaurant on her off-day. They'd gotten together a few times a month for coffee or lunches, but their meetings had started to take on a different tone that Cat hadn't cared for.

"Yeah," Kirk said with a forced smile as he watched the girl wipe water from her chin, "I hate to say I saw that one coming." He sat back and sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I may be your captain, but I'm pretty sure it'd be all right if we were involved. I checked into things. It would work. Since Bones is technically your supervisor-"

"Jim," Cat sighed. "We've been over this. You're like a brother to me. We grew up together. We happened to end up on the same ship. It's not fate. It's good placement based on my aptitude and experience in handling traumas and the nature of injuries on this ship." She fidgeted with her napkin, wondering if she should stop entertaining Jim's invitations. After her first rejection, he'd sworn that their relationship could remain platonic. Now Cat didn't believe that.

The captain leaned forward and reached for the doctor's hands, which she drew back. Frowning, the captain began his plea. "What are the odds, Cat? We went to all the same summer camps on Earth. We were in our general classes together at star fleet academy." He shook his head. "If it's not fate, then why were you smart enough to go to academy years – _years –_ before you were scheduled to, during the same time I happened to be there?" While they'd never had a romantic relationship, Kirk had pondered the option more than once. When her papers came across his desk, he'd been elated and approved her immediately. When Cat blushed at the Russian's name shortly after coming on board, however, Kirk's stomach tightened into knots. "Come on, Cat. Yeah, it'll be a new experience for us, but think of how amazing it could be." He licked his lips nervously and studied the doctor. Her long blonde hair was the same as it had been when she was a child. The round face of the little girl he'd protected had morphed into a sharp, defined face of a woman. Desire rose in him and he allowed his mind to wander briefly.

Noticing the captain staring at her breasts, Cat shifted and cleared her throat. "Maybe, maybe it _is_ fate," she stuttered uncomfortably. "Or maybe we're two Earth kids from the Midwest who had a very similar life path who ended up in the same place. Come on. I thought we'd been over this." Her pity turned quickly into annoyance. "You're charming and clever, but you'll always be Jim who protected me from the mean older kids, Jim who I sat next to in school, and Jim my captain. Nothing more."

The captain frowned. "I'm not that much older than you, if that's what you're-"

"No, Jim," Cat snapped. "You're not listening. I'm not concerned about your age or your rank. I have no reservations that are keeping me from being with you. I'm just not interested in a romantic relationship with you." She set her face in a determined expression. "Please don't beg or bargain."

"But Chekov-"

"He has nothing to do with any of this," Cat growled. "I shouldn't have to justify anything I do in my personal life to you. You mentioned it yourself: you're not even my immediate supervisor." She pushed her half-eaten food away. "If you can't get this through your head, maybe we can't even be friends."

"Ah, come on, Cat," Jim groaned as she reached for her purse. "Sit down. Let's talk about this. Don't cause a scene." He glanced around and shrugged and grinned at the crew members at nearby tables. "You've already set off the rumor mill with your antics with Chekov the other night. How do you think hearing that whispered back and forth all day made me feel?"

"Stop! You said you'd quit pressuring me and you won't." Cat didn't care that others were starting to stare.

"It's not like I'm harassing you," Kirk snapped. "Don't be so dramatic. Sit down."

"But you are, harassing me!" Cat replied, glaring at him. "No more. I mean it. I'm going to see who I want to see and I don't want to hear about it from you." She backed away, then turned and headed down the hallway, her heart hammering in her chest and fury swirling about her.

* * *

"Mr. Chekov!" Captain Kirk exclaimed when the navigator walked onto the bridge a few days later. "Welcome back. We missed you the last few days."

Chekov grinned sheepishly. "Thanks for sending me to ze med bay. I was quite sick moments after arriving." He recalled his time sleeping, receiving IV's, getting sick, and answering the same routine questions under the watchful eye of the medical team. Last night he'd stayed in his own room after being dismissed by McCoy. "Can you believe I was the only serious injury in ze resetting of ze grawitational system? Embarrassing."

Kirk clapped him on the shoulder. "Glad to have you back. You're always on the ball. When you weren't, I knew something was wrong."

"Aye," Chekov answered, touching the bump on his forehead. "You must haff had a concussion?"

"A few, in my day," Kirk replied with a devilish grin. "That's a story for another time." As the crew milled about around him, Kirk knelt down. "Dr. Greenberg have any instructions? You supposed to take it easy? Take breaks? Get any special treatment from her? I hear you're together."

Chekov sat back and looked up in surprise at Kirk's question. "N-no, keptain. Wery professional. Doctor McCoy said to take a break if I feel-"

"Good, that's good," Kirk interrupted. He slapped Chekov on the shoulder again for good measure. "Glad you're back."

Someone cleared their throat from behind him, but Chekov figured it was Uhura and paid no attention. "Permission to-" a female voice began.

"Well, look who it is," Kirk called. "What can I do for you, Dr. Greenberg? To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked coldly.

Chekov spun around, his eyebrows shooting high on his forehead. A smile broke onto his face and he eagerly waved at the woman.

"Dr. McCoy forgot to give Mr. Chekov his prescription yesterday," Cat said, offering a pill bottle to Kirk cordially. "He will need to begin taking it this morning."

Chekov stood. "Thank you! I am supposed to take a medicine?" He looked to Bones, who nodded and replied, "My bad."

"Well, you'd better get over here and get your instructions, Mr. Chekov. The doctor gets nasty when she doesn't have it her way," Kirk said, scowling. "It's never the ones you _expect_ who turn out to be stone cold bitches."

Cat's stomach churned and mind raced with a thousand thoughts and alarm bells. "That's enough."

Suddenly suspicious, Chekov stepped in and took the pill bottle from Cat's hand. Blocking her from Kirk's view, Chekov studied her face and tried to determine why she suddenly looked frightened. "Thank you, Cat."

"That's 'Dr. Greenberg' outside of the bedroom, didn't she tell you that?" Kirk snapped from behind the pair. "I can see how she'd forget to extend a common courtesy to someone."

"Captain," Uhura snapped.

"I do not understand this exchange," Spock interjected. "Dr. Greenberg has not displayed any signs of anger or hostility toward the cap-"

"Don't try to understand this one," Bones grumbled, shaking his head at the Vulcan. Bones frowned and walked over to clap the captain on the back. "Take five, kid. You're pretty hot this morning. The kid had a concussion. I did forget to give him the pills. What's going on, Jim?"

"Nothing," Kirk snapped before turning and marching away.

"What the hell was that?" Uhura asked indignantly. "Dr. Greenberg, are you okay?" She stared at the blonde girl in concern. Uhura and Cat occasionally spent time together when their schedules permitted, and the lieutenant had _never_ seen Cat look as pale and gaunt as she did now.

Cat nodded. "I'm fine. I- I don't know what that was." She stuffed her hands in her white coat pockets to hide the trembling.

"I'll go after him," Bones sighed as he jogged away, following the captain.

"I've seen him like that, and I sure don't like what I'm seeing. When are you off this evening? We'll get a drink. Come by and grab me and we'll go out."

"Sure," Cat agreed. "That's be nice."

"So," Chekov said loudly, "zese pills! How often should I take these, and with food? Without food? I haff questions, if you might have a second!" He placed a hand on the small of Cat's back and led her out into the hallway.

Once they'd walked a few yards down the hall, Cat gathered her thoughts. "If you have any pain, you can take one of those pills with water-"

"Are you okay? Really okay?" Chekov interrupted. "I'm sorry," he quickly added when he realized he'd cut her off. "Take these with water, yes. But I haff never seen ze keptain-"

"Don't worry about it," Cat sighed. "We've known each other for a long time – since before academy."

"Ah," Chekov replied. He pursed his lips and tried to pick up on non-verbal clues. The doctor's shoulders were slouching forward, her gaze was on the floor, and her heaved a sigh. She clearly wasn't really okay. "Cat," he said softly. "If zere is something between you and ze keptain, I do not want to get in ze mid-"

"It's not like that," Cat quickly corrected him. "Don't worry. Really." She faked a smile and nodded toward his head. "The swelling seems to have gone down. How do you feel?" Slipping back into doctor mode gave her the confidence boost she needed.

"Ah, better," Pavel replied. He stopped walking and touched the woman's forearm. "Cat, please, if zere is anything you need-"

"Pavel," the doctor laughed. "Everything's fine. I promise." She glanced at her wristwatch. "I've got a new nurse coming on, so I need to get back to the bay for training." Turning and hurrying down the hall, she called over her shoulder, "You know where to find me if your head starts getting worse."

Chekov frowned and raised a hand in a wave as the doctor practically ran down the hall. He wracked his brain for a way to assist her. The look on her face had set a pang of sorrow in his chest, the pounding in his head forgotten completely.


	5. Splinters

Cat slid a drawer shut, checked off the last of her to-do list, flipped off the lights, and turned toward the door. She shrieked and the clipboard clattered to the floor when a shadow fell across the room.

"It's just me!" Chekov exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Rolling her eyes, Cat shook her head and knelt to gather her papers. "Sorry. It's not you. I'm just a little on edge." She pursed her lips; annoyed to be affected by Captain Kirk's insistence that they be together. The doctor had withdrawn to the medical bay and her room for the rest of the week, passing quickly through the halls with her head down. Rumors were certainly still flying and the captain's outburst on the bridge in front of the crew had certainly added to the gossip mill. Humiliation hung over her and spoiled her mood. Neither Uhura or Emily had been able to coax her out of her slump.

Leaning against the door frame, Pavel gave her a kind smile. "I haff not seen you for some days, Cat. Busy with work?" When she shook her head, Pavel frowned. "Ze keptain." He scowled. "He cannot treat you like-"

"Jim's the captain and he's going to say what he wants," Cat replied with a shrug. "I can't do anything about it but stay out of his way. At first he was just persistent and it was cute, maybe," she explained with a grimace, "but I've never seen him like this. I'm _afraid_ of running into him. I hate confrontation."

"It's not cute if he continues to bother you." Pavel crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. "No one knew zis was a problem. If zere is anything-"

"There's nothing anyone can do," Cat snapped. She immediately dropped her head and rubbed her forehead in frustration. "I'm sorry. This is embarrassing."

"Cat." Pavel opened his arms, extending them toward her slightly. "You're not alone! Ze entire bridge crew is worried after you. We will not let anything happen."

Cat sank into his embrace, equally surprised and pleased that their one night stand evolved effortlessly into a bond. The chemistry was strong yet soft. _Maybe he's the catalyst for me getting fed up with Jim,_ Cat realized. As she took a few deep breaths, the scent of Chekov's skin calmed her and reminded her of the smell of his bedsheets, which she truly wouldn't mind revisitng.

Smiling as he pressed his cheek against the top of her head, Chekov stroked her hair with one hand as he kept another wound tightly around the small of her back. "Zere's something else I came here for," he said as she nestled deeper into his embrace. He debated abandoning his plan in light of the hard feelings with the captain, but pushed ahead, hoping it would cheer Cat.

Cat looked up. "Oh." She broke out of the hug and nodded. "Of course." She looked at him expectantly. She scanned his face, hoping he wasn't experiencing any more concussion issues.

"Do not look so serious!" Pavel laughed. "I beliewe a dector in ze medical bay told me she would not accept my inwitation for dinner until I could prowe I did not have a brain injury." He gestured to himself. "I will defer to ze dector's professional opinion." Eagerness radiated from his smile.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Cat replied, "You _must_ have a brain injury to want to get mixed up when I've got the captain after me." As Chekov's mouth opened and closed wordlessly as he struggled for a response, the doctor laughed. "I thought you'd never ask. Thursday?"

"Aye," Chekov breathed in relief. "Thursday!"

* * *

"It's the big night, huh?" Uhura winked at Chekov from across the bridge.

"Hmm?" Chekov replied as he dialed up coordinates and ran calculations in his head.

Uhura rolled her eyes. "You know. The big night. Thursday."

"The big night?" Spock repeated. "I'm unaware of any events taking place this evening."

Jaylah, who'd just entered the room with Scotty, smiled. "Thursday! The night Pavel Chekov takes the Dr. Cat to dinner. She told it all to Uhura and me."

"Ah," Spock realized. "I'll say no more."

"Good. Say nothing around the captain," Uhura said quickly, glancing over her shoulder. "If he knew Chekov was taking Dr. Greenberg-" She trailed off and grimaced.

"Oh!" the navigator exclaimed as he entered new coordinates and turned his attention to his friends. "Yes, yes. Is she excited?"

"We picked out what for her to wear," Jaylah said excitedly. "Pavel Chekov's jaw will drop to the floor. Dr. Cat is very excited to be in cahoots with him."

"All that time alone really got you interested in this stuff, aye?" Scotty laughed. "It's like you've never been on a ship before. Everyone's always hooking up with everyone else." When Jaylah narrowed her eyes at him, Scotty added, "everyone but me."

"I don't care what she _wears_ ," Chekov said. "Does she seem excited to come? I stopped by ze med bay to ask her, and I startled her, so I hope she didn't say yes so that I'd leaff her alone." He bit his lip.

"She's fine," Uhura said. "I can see it all over your face. You think you and Kirk are on the same level?" She clicked her tongue. "Relax. He's asked her out a dozen times and won't leave her alone when she says no. You asked once and she said yes. Relax. Cat actually _wants_ you around. She's a tough girl. We all deal with assholes sometimes."

"Hello, Jim," Spock announced as the captain returned to his chair.

Uhura's jaw snapped shut and she shot a worried glance to Chekov.

"Everyone calm down," Kirk said lightheartedly. "No need to keep secrets, here. I heard everything. If Mr. Chekov wants to take his chances with the doctor, that's his prerogative." The captain didn't bother looking at the Russian. "We've been on ship for a long time and I understand options are running low. I don't blame him a bit for scraping the bottom of the barrel and going in for sloppy seconds. You've gotta do what you've gotta do."

"Jim," Spock interjected. "If I may-"

"You may not," the captain replied.

"Why you are so nasty to Dr. Cat?" Jaylah demanded. "She is good doctor and more even better friend."

Scotty reached out and grabbed her forearm. "Come along, lassie," he urged her before she could say any more, "we'd best get back and check on that, ah, transformer."

"There is no transformer," Jaylah replied. "James T., why you say these things?"

Trying to put a lid on the situation, Spock rose his hand. "It seems that the captain is unhappy that Mister Chekov-"

"Shut up, Spock," Kirk snapped.

Dejected, Spock sat back. He looked to Uhura, who seemed to be thinking very intensely about something. Scotty was physically pulling Jaylah from the bridge. Stewing, Chekov said nothing and stared at the screen in front of him. Sulu and the others were desperately trying to look busy.

"Cat got your tongue, Mr. Chekov?" Kirk asked. Realizing his pun, he laughed. "I guess that's the whole point of tonight, isn't it?" He leaned forward in his chair and leaned his elbow upon his knee. "Come on. We're just having some fun. Everyone else is chiming in to defend the good doctor. I know you aren't actually doing calculations right now. You're unusually quiet."

Pavel sighed and looked back to the captain's chair. "Just double checking ze coordinates, keptain."

"So what are you and the doctor doing tonight? I can give you advice. She's finicky; doesn't like much. She _does_ like muscle and money. Surprised she's interested in the likes of you." Kirk narrowed his eyes and sized up the younger man.

Chekov pursed his lips and returned the captain's stare. As much as he wanted to defend Cat, he knew the captain was only trying to get a reaction out of him.

Nonplussed, Kirk continued his verbal assault and defamation. "There were men- a _lot_ of men back during out academy days. All of them looked more like, well," he shrugged and gestured to his toned body. "Not you."

"That's not true," Uhura snarled. "Captain, I'd like to respectfully request that we stop discussing the medical officers and continue with the matters at hand."

"There are no matters at hand," Kirk barked. "You're all sitting here gossiping behind my back. You think I don't know that?"

"It was friendly banter regarding-"

"Want to get written up for insubordination?" Kirk threatened, jabbing a finger at the lieutenant.

"No, Sir," Uhura replied through gritted teeth.

"Good." Kirk scowled at Chekov for a moment longer before turning back to the rest of the crew. "Back to work, then."

"Sorry," Uhura mouthed to Chekov, who shook his head.

"Don't worry about it," he mouthed back. As his heart pounded and his skin crawled, Chekov reminded himself that Uhura was right: he was nothing like the captain.

* * *

Jaylah clapped her hands. "Your ass in these pants is to make him pass out."

Cat snorted in laughter. She looked in the mirror and shrugged. "I mean, I guess black pants make any ass look good."

Jaylah and Uhura had gathered in Cat's room after work to calm her down before her dinner with Chekov. They'd put the finishing touches on her outfit and were beginning to curl her long hair. Jaylah twirled a piece of hair around the curling iron and smiled as the familiar burning smell filled the air. "Are you going to do it?"

"Do what?" Cat replied as she slopped black polish onto her nails.

" _Do it,"_ Jaylah replied. "Between the sheets."

Uhura snickered. "I think they already have."

"False," Cat replied slyly. "We may have been between the sheets, but I was drunk and we fell asleep." When Jaylah's face fell, Cat held up a hand. "But! He made me breakfast the next morning. And I can tell you he's a _great_ kisser."

"Ooh, so do not be drunk this time! Imagine how good his sexing will be." Jaylah exclaimed. "He is very cute, and he has liked you for always. That is what they all tell me."

Cat giggled. "We'll see how the night goes, first. I was drunk with the nurses the first time we bumped into each other. Then he was in the medical bay with me for a day, but he had a concussion." She mulled over their bizarre encounters with a small smile on her lips. "Then he was very concerned when Jim started freaking out. Pavel said he was worried about me."

"FYI," Uhura said, "Jim heard some of us talking about the date. I wouldn't be surprised if he's at the next table over." She rolled her eyes. "Sorry."

"Yes, James T. is a bad man," Jaylah snarled. "Do not do it with him, ever."

Uhura laughed. "Girl, you must wear Scotty out. You're obsessed!"

Jaylah shrugged nonchalantly. "No, he always does manage to find energy!"

Cat burst into laughter once more, endlessly thankful her friends were there to take her mind off of her nerves.

* * *

Half an hour later, Cat was ready to go. With only a few minutes left before Pavel was supposed to stop by her room, Uhura and Jaylah slipped into the hall, making her promise to message them the details later.

When the door bell rang, Cat stole one last glance at herself in the mirror before reaching for the door, trying to keep her expression just so.

Before Cat reached the knob, the door flung open and Captain Kirk strolled in. "Cat. Look at you. Yeah, let me get a good look." He slammed the door shut and leaned against it. "What's the occasion, Kit Cat? I thought you weren't interested in going out?"

"Not with you, Jim," Cat replied, her heart suddenly pounding anxiously. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" She caught a whiff of whiskey. "Are you drunk? It's only seven thirty." Disappointment, anger, and fear swirled together in her gut. The childhood friend she'd known was gone, replaced by a power-hungry and jealous starship captain.

Kirk sighed. "Cat. I can take you to dinner. I can be the one you look like this for. Come on." He reached out to touch her face and stumbled.

"Jim, go home," Cat demanded. "I'm not going to tell you again: I will not go out with you. I do not want you to bother me any more." She slid past him and pulled the door open. "Leave now."

"You're making a huge mistake. That's all right," Kirk mumbled. "You'll come around. They always do." He leered at her for a moment longer before reaching out and stroking her hair. "Come on, Cat."

"Get away," she hissed, drawing her hand back in disgust. The door slammed shut once more. "Go. Right now. I'll file a complaint with the admiral if you don't leave me alone. I swear I'll do it."

At first the captain chuckled at the notion. After a moment of laughing, his face contorted into rage. Jim cried out and snatched a bar stool from the kitchen and tossed it. Cat screamed as wood splintered everywhere.

* * *

Chekov had paced toward Dr. Greenberg's door, hesitated, and retreated twenty steps back down the hallway six times already. A bouquet of flowers in his hand felt like a perfect gesture while he marched toward the door, but as soon as he approached Cat's room, they seemed like overkill, causing him to turn to discard them until he again decided they were a necessary token of affection. On his seventh trip to her door, he heard a scream.

"Cat?" he exclaimed, jogging the rest of the way to the door and rapping at it. "Cat. Cat?" It sounded like a struggle was taking place inside. Pavel let himself in and dropped the flowers when he saw Kirk holding Cat against the wall; his body pressed against hers and hand at her throat. Pieces of broken wood littered the otherwise pristine room. Cat's face was red and her eyes were wide in terror. "Kirk!" he hollered as he reached out and threw himself at the captain.

Cat gasped for air as Pavel tore Kirk from her and the pair tumbled to the ground.

"Get out of here," Kirk snarled, stumbling to his feet. "We're busy."

"Leave her alone," Pavel said calmly. "Now. From now on. Stay away from her."

"You can't tell me what to do," Kirk replied. "Cat and I go way back. I don't appreciate you getting involved. You struck me as a guy who'd have honor. I didn't think you'd go through with it. Crew gossip? Yeah! Sure" Jim exclaimed, getting louder and louder. "But to think that you were actually going to come here and fuck my Kit Cat? I don't think so. She's all I have." He turned to Cat and reached out. "Tell him. We're meant to be, Cat."

"Shut up, Jim," Cat interjected. "Get out. _Get. Out._ "

"I get it," Kirk said softly. "I'm sorry. I overreacted. I'm not mad at you, Cat." Kirk turned back to Pavel and grinned a malicious smile. "You, though? We're not okay. You think you're just going to take her from me?"

"She is a _person,"_ Pavel replied. "Not some _thing._ She asked you to leave, keptain. I think you should go find Dr. McCoy. You're not well."

"Why? So you can have her?" Kirk burst, throwing a wild swing in Chekov's direction.

Pavel easily caught the captain's fist and flipped him into a defensive hold. "Keptain, leave before you hurt yourself." Chekov gave Kirk a soft push toward the door. "You haff been drinking. I haff not. You do not want to fight me." He shook his head at the captain. "No more of this."

"Fuck you, Mr. Chekov," Jim snarled under his breath. He hesitated for a moment and studied Cat as if he had something to say before turning and heading unsteadily out the door. "Have your fun. Get it out of your system. Cat – you know where I'll be."

The second the door pulled shut, Chekov dove for the lock and engaged it. He leaned against the door and exhaled. "Are you-"

"I'm fine, really," Cat replied quickly. She knelt to the floor and began picking up the splinters and chunks of stool. "Be careful where you step." Cleaning gave her back control and that made her feel better. Her cheeks burned red, now in embarassment. She'd never let a man overpower her like that before and she swore it'd be the last time.

"Cat," Pavel said softly as he too knelt and began brushing splinters into his hand, "if you want to-"

"I think what I'd like to do," Cat interruped, sensing Chekov's motive, "is to stay in and cook instead of going out to dinner. We can just eat on the couch, seeing as how there's only one spot at the counter now." She forced a smile, but quickly let it fade when she saw Chekov's concerned expression. "That sucked. I'm okay, though."

Chekov nodded. "What happened?"

"He was just here." Cat dumped the pieces of the chair into the trash and got out a broom. "Uhura and Jaylah said they brought up our date in front of him. They warned me. I knew he'd show up somehow. Something's wrong with him. Jim wasn't always like this." She swept up the smallest pieces of the stool and cleared her throat. "If you're wary about being involved with me because of this, I completely understand. Just say the word and-"

"No," Pavel snapped. "For so long I've dreamed of getting to know you. You're so smart and kind and funny." He felt his cheeks grow warm and his stomach flop over. "You're as wonderful as I always knew. I just worried that I was putting you in danger with ze keptain."

"If it wasn't you, it'd be someone else," Cat quickly answered.

The bell rang and Chekov touched his belt. He swore when he realized he wasn't wearing his uniform and didn't have his gun. "Who is it?" Pavel called out.

"I am Jaylah! Open the door!" She knocked. "Where is the Doctor Cat?"

Sighing in relief and receiving a nod from Cat, Pavel unlocked the door and let the women spill into the apartment.

"We just saw Jim. He's a drunk mess, and having a fit about something. He just hit a red shirt in the face," Uhura exclaimed as she burst into the apartment with Jaylah right behind her. "Was he here?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah. He wouldn't take no for an answer, tried to get physical, then Pavel showed up and sent him off."

"You fought him?" Jaylah asked Chekov, nodding in admiration. "Good. You are good man, Pavel Chekov." She patted him on the back and flashed a smile.

"Did he hurt you?" Uhura snarled. "You tell us if he laid a hand on you."

Pavel turned his attention back to Cat's neck and was pleased to find the captain's grip hadn't been tight enough to leave any bruises or cause damage.

"No," Cat replied as she began pulling dinner supplies out of the cupboards.

"I thought you were going on date?" Jaylah asked suspiciously. "Why you are doing this?"

"I think we would much prefer to stay in right now," Pavel answered. "Why don't you ladies stay for dinner? I'll just let myself out-"

"You're not getting out of our date that easily," Cat interrupted. She turned to Jaylah and Uhura. "Stay. I'll make pasta."


	6. Getting to Know You

Full of pasta and exhausted after the day's events, Pavel and Cat collapsed into the couch and enjoyed Jaylah and Uhura's company as they all gathered in the living room.

"You should carry a tazer," Jaylah demanded.

"Bones should switch up your work schedules so Jim doesn't know when you're working," Uhura suggested.

"I'll teach you how to fight," Jaylah continued.

Uhura nodded. "We'll need to change your patterns. Take different ways back to your room. If he can't find you, he can't bother you."

As the girls peppered their air with suggestions on keeping Kirk's unwanted advances at bay, Cat let her head swivel back and forth between the two.

"You should stay somewhere else," Pavel interjected softly. As Jaylah and Uhura seemed to inflate in excitement, he raised a hand. "Not with me. That's too obvious. Besides, we still haven't been on an actual date." He laughed uncomfortably, then continued. "Maybe with one of you? That is, if you want, Cat."

The doctor shook her head. "I'm not going to let him chase me out of my job or my own room. Just because Jim's jealous that someone's interested in me doesn't mean I should have to change anything."

Slightly crestfallen that she didn't indicate her interest in him with her answer, Pavel blurted, "He had his hands on you, Cat!"

"What?" Uhura spat, sitting up straight. "You didn't say that. You said he _tried_ to get physical." Her lip curled. "What did he do?"

"He just pushed me against the wall," Cat lied, forcing herself to ignore Pavel's angry glare.

Uhura gasped in horror. "You can't just do nothing, Cat. We need to do something-"

"It's my call. Just calm down." The doctor sighed and let her head hang over the back of the couch. "I think he knows I'm serious now. Now he'll leave me alone and everything will be over."

"It's not just you who Jim's harassing," Uhura said, glancing at Chekov. "Didn't you tell her?"

Cat blinked, then let the comment sink in. She looked at Chekov, who was rubbing the back of his neck and blushing. "Tonight wasn't the first time you've fought him?"

"No, no, everything is fine. Don't worry!" Pavel shifted his weight on the couch. "Anyway, does anyone want to play a card game?" He pulled a deck of playing cards from his pocket and pulled them from the pack.

"Wrong. It was not just fine," Jaylah frowned as she watched Pavel shuffle. "James T. was very angry to Pavel Chekov. Montgomery Scotty made me leave instead of fighting the captain, myself!"

"Pavel," Cat breathed. "You didn't mention-"

"It doesn't matter. I can handle ze keptain. We'll make sure he does not bother you, and it will all be fine!" Pavel dealt cards and cleared his throat. "Poker, anyone?"

* * *

Scotty clinked his shot glass against McCoy's and dumped it down the hatch. "Smooth," he commented.

"It's Chekov's," Bones replied with a smirk.

"Argh, stop stealin' from that lad. I doubt he gets even a swig of any of his own stuff," Scotty laughed. "But maybe he shouldn't have such good booze."

Bones poured himself another shot and sipped on it. "So where's Jaylah? I haven't drank with you for ages since you've been holed up with her."

"She's off with Uhura and Dr. Greenberg, I think. Girl night."

"Not Cat. She's out with Mr. Chekov and Jim's losing his mind over it, still." Bones rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his drink. "It's a weird place to be stuck. Jim's my friend, but Cat's my partner. She doesn't deserve the harassment, but it's hard to tell Jim to knock it off, you know?"

Scotty nodded. "I'm certain Jaylah's going to find some way to do it. Lassie's fierce and doesn't take any sort of harassment lightly." He chuckled. "Even light-hearted stuff. I've ended up hog-tied more than once."

"I don't want to hear about your sex life," Bones grimaced.

"Oh, that's nothing compared to my sex life." Scotty winked.

"Anyway," Bones groaned, "I just had a red shirt in the med bay earlier with a busted nose. She said the captain was storming down the hall, she said 'good evening,' and he popped her a good one. HR is going to love that one. I bet it gets raised to the admiral. Jim started at rock bottom, drunk in a bar, but I didn't think he'd end up back there with a crew under his command." He sighed and massaged his temples. "There's gotta be something making him act so crazy. Cat never said they had any sort of history. This sort of aggression? There has to be a reason for it. Chemical imbalance in the brain, maybe he's lacking a certain vitamin-"

"C'mon, it's obviously the fact that he can't have her, so he wants her," Scotty scoffed. "He's the captain! He can't be involved with anyone anyway." He raised a brow. "He just doesn't want anyone else to have her, either. We just have to stay on him about how it's unfair for him to dog on her. Man to man, damn his captainship." He finished another scotch and slammed his glass down. "The nose breaking, though? Remind me to stay away from him."

"If only. Senior crew members have one-on-ones coming up this week," Bones answered woefully. "Maybe none of it will come up."

Scotty graimced. "What's worse is that his party's tomorrow night, remember?"

Bones let his forehead drop to the bar. "This is going to be interesting," he mumbled into the counter. "I'll pack a travel med kit."

* * *

"Thank you for stopping. Really," Cat said as Jaylah and Uhura headed out of her apartment.

"You call me if Jim's bothering you," Uhura urged her, grabbing one of her hands in hers. "This stuff isn't funny."

"I know," Cat replied solemnly. "And I'll take you up on that self defense lesson," she added to Jaylah, who beamed.

When they'd gone, the doctor turned back to the living room, where Pavel was sitting deep in thought. Taking a breath, she knew what had to be done. "I didn't know Jim was giving you a hard time about seeing me," Cat broke the silence. She rubbed her arm nervously and leaned against the door frame. "Maybe it'd be best if we stopped before, well," she hesitated, "before we get started." Before the man could speak, Cat pushed ahead. "You work with Jim every day. I don't want to put your job at risk. If you weren't up there, the entire crew would be worse-off. No one can calculate like you can." She offered a smile. "Besides, it's not like there's a whole lot going to waste here. We made out drunk in your room once. We were _going_ to go on a date, but didn't." She shrugged and wished she wasn't speaking the words. Pavel Chekov was proving himself over and over to be the charming man she'd thought him to be. Pushing him away for his own good was painful, but she felt it was the right thing to do. "So, I guess that's my thought on how to squash this whole thing."

"Is that what you want?" Pavel replied earnestly.

"You need to be-" Cat began.

"What do _you_ want?" he interrupted.

Cat set her gaze upon him and was surprised that he looked so determined. "I want Jim to leave you alone."

"No, Cat. _You!_ Do not worry about my situation. What do _you_ want? I know it's hard for you, but be selfish." He felt a grin crack across his lips.

Cat couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face. _Damn him._ "I don't know. It's not fair that you're dealing with this because of me." She exhaled slowly and visually took in the man before her. Pavel was not only handsome, but smart, kind, and every bit the stereotypical good guy Prince Charming she'd read about since she was a girl. His eyes stared at her intently, his lips pressed together in a grim purse. The pout was attractive and she felt like whining aloud. "You deserve better than this mess."

"Cat!" Pavel stood, and laughing in disbelief and amusement at her unwaivering dedication to putting others first, figured it was now or never. "Here's an example. I'll tell you what I want. I want to make you dinner and ask you questions about Minnesota and your tattoo and find out if all ze things I've heard about how smart and funny you are are true." Suddenly, he was aware of how fast his heart was pounding. "I want to have breakfast together without ze ship's grawity turning off. I want to bring you flowers zat I don't have to drop because someone is attacking you. I want to eat more of your pasta – zat was delicious."

Something like butterflies beat about in her abdomen and Cat's lip twitched into a nervous smile. The right choice, sending Chekov away for his own safety, was quickly fading from her mind. Her selfish desires were rising quickly to the forefront. While Jim had always been charming to her, she was realizing that perhaps his efforts had been superficial and from a place of lust instead of from the heart. The words flowing easily from Pavel's mouth, or perhaps soul - unrehearsed, messy, silly – were sinking in deeper than anything Jim ever said had. No one had fought for her like this and it was leaving her flustered.

Pavel crossed the room and stood before the doctor. "I want to hold your hair back when you drink too much, and to get you in trouble with security for being too loud." He felt like a lunatic for spilling these thoughts out for her, but now that he'd started, it got easier. "I want your nurses to like me and I want you to keep smiling like you did at ze bar. I want to know what it's like to kiss you sober." As soon as he'd spoken the words, he stepped backward and felt his eyes widen in surprise. Being treated like a piece of meat was surely the last thing she needed after the unwanted visit from the captain. "I- I'm sorry, zat's-" His mouth hung open as he struggled for an apology. When Cat smiled and tilted her head in what seemed like amusement, he wondered if his remark had perhaps been taken well, after all.

The answer came quickly. "Okay," Cat said flirtatiously.

Pavel only had time to blink in response. Suddenly Cat was all around him, pressed against him, and filling every sense he possessed. Her floral scent swirled in his nostrils and lungs, her arms and long hair enveloped him, her soft breasts were crushed against his chest as she pulled him to her. Her lips, so warm and smooth, were suddenly on his, tugging and sucking with a passion that left him surprised to find it matched his own. In a smooth step, Cat rotated him and pressed his back to the wall and held him there, her hands snaking down his forearms to grab his hands and pin them above his head against the wall.

A thrill burst to life and spread through Pavel's body. His legs trembled as Cat held him fast between the wall and her being. He marveled momentarily at her physical strength; it would have been a struggle for him to push her away. "Cat," he breathed into the kiss as she released his hands and traced her fingertips down his arms and across his throat. Goosebumps exploded down his arms and a soft moan fluttered from his lips. "Oh, Cat."

The doctor let the feelings rule. A warmth spread to her thighs and she moaned in desire. _Fuck it,_ she thought. _We'll deal with the captain later._ She stepped back to catch her breath and looked at the man she'd just kissed. _Yes, it's always been him._ "So you also wanted to ask me about, ah, my tattoo? That was something else you wanted?"

Chekov gave his head a shake and blinked hard before nodded. "Ah, yes. I – zat was something I wanted." Not certain where she was going with that, he remained against the wall, hoping she wouldn't notice how hard his heart was pounding or the growing bulge in his jeans.

"It's black linework," Cat explained as she pulled off her top, revealing a black camisole underneath.

"O-of a constellation." Pavel noticed army green bra straps on her shoulders, but forced himself to look back to her face. It became painfully aware that his jaw had been hanging open. He snapped it shut and swallowed with a gulp.

"Yes, but I won't tell you which one." Cat crossed her arms over her stomach, grabbed the hem of the tank top and pulled it off over her head with a move that looked more like ballet than stripping. She turned so that the entire tattoo was visible.

The ink crawled up and down her ribs. Nine stars all together, connected by swirling calligraphy lines that disappeared under the army green material of her bra. Pavel tilted his head, then grinned. "Leo? Your star sign?"

Wrinkling her nose, Cat laughed. "Yes. Plus, my friends used to call me the lioness because of all my hair. Fitting, I guess. So," she continued, shimmying her shoulders slowly, "ask me about Minnesota."

"I don't know what to ask," Pavel replied. "Giwe me an overwiew." His heart seemed to be thudding out of time and it felt as though his mouth was dry although he swore he was drooling. His eyes were locked on Cat's and he refused to break eye contact.

"It's cold," Cat replied. "The nights are freezing." Swiftly reaching behind her and unlatching her bra, Cat whispered, "Practically nothing can keep you warm." The bra slid down her arms and hit the tile floor with a soft clink. The cool air added to the exhilaration she drank in.

"N-nothing?" Pavel repeated, his eyes flickering between her gaze and her breasts.

"Almost nothing," she replied coyly. She reached out and grabbed his hands, then cupped them over her breasts. "There's one thing that helps."

Cocking his head downward and biting his lip briefly, Pavel took a brief moment to think. When he looked up, the doctor's expression had changed completely to a look of temptation and playfulness. "You still did not told me what you want," he said, letting his hands slide down to her waist.

"You know what I want."

"I need to hear it," Pavel whispered as he bowed his head and tasted her collarbone.

A thousand suggestive responses crossed Cat's mind. She let her lips brush against his ear lobe as she replied, "I want to have breakfast together in the morning without the gravity glitching. Before that, I want to have you."

Pavel nodded and quickly pulled off his own shirt and kicked off his boots. His thoughts swirled into nothingness as Cat's skin glided over his and she whipped his belt out of its loops. "So," he panted as he fussed with her pants, "I'm glad that we came to an agreement about what we want."

* * *

Everything ached.

That was the first thought in Cat's mind Friday morning when the glow of a screen flashed a notification and woke her. It was her weekend and she loved waking up sans alarm. She inhaled and stretched, noting the twinges in her back, her triceps, her thighs. The sheets felt sinfully good on her bare skin. Her lips pulled upward as she recalled the long night she'd experienced in the arms of her year-long crush. _I'll need a good soak in a hot bath for these muscles,_ she ordered for herself.

"I'm so sore," she mumbled aloud as she rolled back onto her stomach and nestled into the pillow. When no response came, she lifted her head and looked to where Pavel had collapsed onto the bed after their final round, sweating and laughing. The sheets were cool and his clothes, previously scattered all over the floor, were missing. "Breakfast," she whispered gleefully to herself.

After pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, Cat strutted into the kitchen. Even her abs hurt. _When it's good, it's good,_ she mused. "Good morning," she called into the apartment.

It was empty. A brief panic swept over her until she spotted a note on the counter.

" _I didn't want to wake you – one of us should get some sleep! So maybe we aren't having breakfast together, but come by after my shift._ _For our first date, I'_ _ll_ _cook you dinner. Finally._ _-P"_

Content to enjoy cereal and savor the pleasant ache between her legs, Cat settled in for a relaxing day off.


	7. Breakfast

Later that morning, Scotty smiled at Dr. Greenberg when she opened the door to her apartment for him. "Hey, lass. Jaylah said you needed somethin' fixed." He had a tool belt hanging from his hips.

"Ah, no, nothing I can think of," Cat replied, stepping back and gesturing Scotty in. "Nothing's broken unless she broke something last night without telling me. Coffee?"

"Sure," Scotty replied. "Well, that's all she told me." He sat down on the single bar stool and leaned on the counter. "Okay. So nothing's broken. Why did she want me to come here?"

Cat poured coffee into a mug and set it before Scotty. "Who knows with her." She picked up her own mug and held it between her hands. The knock at the door was the first thing that had stirred her from the couch all morning as she recovered from a sleepless night with Mr. Chekov.

"How was your date last night?" Scotty ventured. "Sorry the captain's been a straight up dick about it."

"Well, since the captain was a dick, I didn't go on my date. We all just stayed here and had dinner."

Tapping the note from Pavel next to his coffee mug, Scotty laughed, "I think you _did_ have a date, to some extent. Plus, it smells like sex in here."

Cat grinned. "No it doesn't. And maybe I did." She and Scotty hadn't been close, but he'd been a frequent visitor to the medical bay. As she'd treated his cuts and burns, Cat had developed a liking for the sassy engineer.

"Fine, have it your way. You two goin' to the captain's party tonight, then, after your dinner?" Scotty watched her reaction over his coffee cup.

"It's not like we have the choice _not_ to," Cat grumbled. "I want to stop by, have a drink, then come home. I'm sure Jim will be in some sort of mood, and I'm afraid the crew will blame me."

"Horseshit," Scotty declared. "Why would his drunken sloppiness be your fault? If a man can't pull himself together, that's his own damn fault. I don't think _anyone_ really wants to go. Not after last night. He broke one of my girls' noses just because she said hi to him in the hallway."

"What?" Cat exclaimed.

"Aye. That's what Bones told me."

"That must have been right after he left here. We had to throw him out. He was a drunk mess." Cat rubbed her temple for a moment, hoping to stave off the headache she knew would begin. When Jim had been bothering her, she was annoyed. The assaults extended to Pavel and she grew angry. Now that it had pushed beyond the parties involved, Cat was livid.

Scotty lowered his mug. It touched the counter with a ceramic clink. "He was here? _You_ threw him out?"

"That's what I meant about my date being ruined. Jim showed up and got a little rough when I told him to get out."

Scotty frowned. "And now I see why Jaylah wanted me to come by. Let me guess- she wanted to hunt him down and you said no. Dr. Greenberg, you can't let this go unexcused."

"Something like that," Cat replied. "Whose nose did her beak? Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," Scotty shrugged. "She's a tough gal. But if he'll do that to a crew member that has nothin' to do with anythin', I'd watch yourself, Doctor." Scotty finished his coffee. "You let me know if you ever need any brawn to handle him. I'll send Jaylah over." He broke the tension by grinning.

"As a medical doctor, I feel like I can't condone physical violence." Cat finished her own coffee and sighed. "I'll be glad when his party's over and I can get back to the med bay and hopefully Jim stops harassing Pavel."

"Like I said- you let me know if there are any problems. I'm not afraid to throw hands."

* * *

 _One hour. Thirty minutes. Twenty minutes. Ten minutes. Seven minutes._

Pavel all but leapt from his chair the second his shift ended. "I'll see you tonight at ze captain's party," he called to the crew before taking off for his apartment. As he walked, he tried to plan what he'd say to Cat, assuming she did come over for dinner. He'd already planned a dinner and knew what he'd wear, but how to act evaded him. They _still_ hadn't been on a proper date, but had spent over an hour exhausting each other in bed last night. Keeping his mind on his work had been a struggle all day, but now he would be faced with that demon, or rather, doctor.

Upon returning to his room, Pavel immediately pulled out pots and pans and began cooking, hoping the doctor would choose to come over after having a day to reflect on the relationship. He hadn't messaged her all day and kept his fingers crossed that her silence had been a good sign.

When the door clicked fifteen minutes later, Pavel tipped his head back and hissed, "Yes," to himself. "Hello!" he exclaimed as Cat let herself. "Come een, come een! Dinner is almost ready. How was your day?" He looked up from cooking to flash her a wide smile. Her long hair was braided up around her head and she wore the blazer from the first night they'd met. Red lipstick popped on her porcelain skin. "You look beautiful," he commented as genuinely as he could.

Cat grinned. "Thanks. It smells great in here- breakfast?"

"Yes! You said you wanted to have breakfast together, so breakfast is what you get." Pavel beamed, clearly proud of his clever choice. "You taught me about Minnesota, so I thought I would make you a Russian breakfast."

"Clever. I've never had Russian _anything._ Except for last night," Cat added with a wink.

Pavel blushed furiously and cleared his throat awkwardly in lieu of a response. _So that's out of the way,_ he thought gratefully.

Cat sat down at the table and crossed her legs. Her tall rhinestone-studded heels sparkled in the light. "I really didn't teach you much about Minnesota, but how different can breakfast be?"

"On ze menu: kasha, syrniki, and black bread, if you want it." Pavel pulled out dishes and set the table.

"I know what bread is. The rest – is very Russian-sounding."

The Russian smiled. "I will have to speak Russian for you sometime. Kasha is like a," he stopped and thought, "oatmeal. Syrniki is delicious dumplings. You'll loff zem."

Pushing her sass further, Cat grinned devilishly. "I've quite enjoyed the Russian I've experienced so far, so I'm sure it'll be wonderful."

"Aye-yi-yi," Pavel chuckled.


	8. Party

Music pounded and bodies danced in the dim light of the bar at Captain Kirk's birthday party. Though historically Jim always tried to ignore the day, the crew demanded he celebrate. Over the years the event had grown to a ship-wide party that everyone looked forward to. It had taken time, but the captain loosened up and began to enjoy himself, though the party also marked the anniversary of his father's death.

"I'll get us another round," Cat called to the bridge crew before turning and bumping back through the crowd to the bar. She'd been sipping at her drinks carefully as to remain sober in case of a run-in with Jim. Pavel was doing the same.

" _There you are,"_ a low voice came in her ear.

Dread filtered through her and chills ran down her spine faster than lightning. Cat spun and let her hands fly up to receive any potential blows. However, a tall green nurse stood behind her, not Captain Kirk.

"Dr. Greenberg," the nurse chided her. "Had a lot to drink tonight, huh?" He laughed and his reptilian eyes blinked rapidly. "It's just Jose! Haven't seen you outside of work for ages! Come drink with us."

"Yeah," Emily agreed from beside him. She pointed across the room to a group of nurses. "We're all over there. Come on, Cat. Be social with your underlings!"

"I'm actually just grabbing one more drink before heading out," Cat excused herself.

"Just because you're hanging out with the bridge crew doesn't mean you can leave us behind," Emily snapped after her. Cat stopped and Emily continued. "How did I know this would happen? It was fun when you had that crazy crush on Chekov, but now you act like we don't even exist now that you're with him. Hell, even Bones has been coming out with us lately." She narrowed her eyes and challenged Cat to deny her invitation again.

"It's a little more complicated-" Cat began.

Jose sighed and shook his head. "That's all right, Doctor. Don't worry about it. Come on, Em. We'll catch her next time." He patted Cat on the shoulder as Emily snarled and stalked back through the crowd. "Enjoy yourself. She's just grumpy." He turned and chased after her.

Since the drama with Jim had began, Cat realized she had indeed clammed up. At work she kept her head down and diligently filed her paperwork and improved processes. After hours she'd spent more time with Jaylah and Uhura, but not as a slight against Emily. The doctor frowned and wondered how she'd let her friendship drift apart so abruptly. Emily was a mean enemy.

"Hey, Kit Cat?"

This time, Cat knew who the voice belonged to. "Happy birthday, Jim," she called over the music as she tried to keep her cool. A deep breath didn't steady her, but gave her confidence nonetheless. She turned and gave the captain a small grin. "Another great party this year, huh?"

"I'm glad you came," Jim called back to her. "I wanted to apologize for last night. That wasn't right."

Her eyebrow quirked upward involuntarily. "That's for sure," Cat agreed suspiciously. "What's up with you?"

"What?" Jim called over the music. He shook his head and pointed at his ear. "It's the music. I can't hear you." He leaned in and Cat flinched away from him. His face fell, but Cat kept her steely gaze locked on him. "I asked what's been up with you," Cat called into the side of his head. His demeanor was a 180 degree change from the previous night, but she didn't trust him any longer. _It's an act,_ she repeated to herself. Adrenaline began to pump into her bloodstream. _Stay safe. Get ready to run. Keep away._

Jim stepped back and shook his head. "I don't know," he replied. "I really don't. I'm not myself." He looked at the ice in his glass and swirled it. "I'm sorry," he said into the drink. "I can't even explain it." His eyes remained on the drink, then shifted to the ground.

Cat studied Jim and tried to determine whether this was an act. "Did you really break someone's nose?"

"Yeah," Jim replied solemnly. "It's like some days I'm a completely different person. I didn't mean to hurt you." He looked up and Cat was surprised to see the genuine hurt in his eyes. She'd seen it on rare occasions during their youth. "Yeah," Jim continued, "I thought about getting together when you came on board, but you said no and that was it. I know that, Cat." His lip twitched. "You and Chekov are probably perfect for each other. He's so happy. I'm not sure why, but sometimes I just snap when someone brings it up or when I see you together." He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "It's messed up. It's _so_ messed up."

"Like last night?"

"Like last night," Jim repeated lamely.

Sympathy or something like it flooded Cat's senses. _He's just sick. I knew this wasn't Jim. A mental disorder, a deficiency of some sort._ "Maybe you should stop into the medical bay and we can take a look at you, run some blood tests," she urged him. A wary look was his only response. Cat stared at him seriously. "I can tell you're scared. The only way to treat whatever this is, is to diagnose it. We'll get to it. But tonight, it's your party. Don't worry about it, yeah?"

Jim pursed his lips. "I can't apologize enough for-"

"I knew it wasn't you," Cat said. She smiled. "I'm glad you're back. Really."

Jim nodded, his face still long.

"Cheer up! It's your birthday!" Cat laughed. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "We'll figure out whatever's wrong. Geeze. You're like a brother to me, you big dork. I was really worried." She pulled back, her arms still draped over his shoulders. "You have no idea how much better I feel!"

"I'm still worried," Jim replied. He wrapped his free hand around the small of her back and pulled her back into a loose hug.

"Come have a drink with us. We're over at the high tops, the bridge crew and me, now." Cat grinned. "Look who made it to the cool kids' table."

Jim finally smiled. "Impressive. I'll make another round and then come say hi."

* * *

"Where the hell is she?" Bones growled. "I could have been to the bar and back six times by now."

"Then why don't you?" Spock replied amiably. "That would provide an easy solution to your complaint."

Uhura snickered as Bones scowled. The bridge crew had amassed around a pair of high tables on the edge of the room. Empty cocktail glasses and beer cans littered the countertop. Thirsty crew members began to grumble.

"She was just talking to Emily, one of her nurses," Pavel replied as he twirled an empty glass on the table. He glanced back into the crowd, searching for his date. The nurses had disbanded, so he looked to the bar. When he couldn't see the doctor there, he jumped up from the bar stool. "I don't see her. I don't see her!" His heart thudded. Thoughts of Kirk attacking the doctor manifested in his mind. "We haff to save her."

"Why the shouting? It is party," Jaylah scoffed as she returned from the dance floor with Scotty. "Nothing bad will happen to the Doctor Cat here. Why do you not dance, Pavel Chekov?"

"I'm not too sure," Pavel grumbled, scanning the bar once more. This time, he spotted the braids on top of Cat's head through the crowd. The tension in his body released immediately. "There. She's talking to someone. Okay, it's fine," he sighed. He laughed in relief and shook his head. "Zis girl has me crazy. I'm sorry."

"Wait. She's talking to Jim," Uhura breathed. She threw a worried glance at the navigator. "Why is she talking to him?"

Pavel moved and tried to peer through the crowd. Panic quelled up in his gut once more. "Is she okay? I can't see them."

"They look fine," Uhura said. A moment later she narrowed her eyes and tilted her head in concern.

"What is it?" Pavel asked, pulling his gun from his belt. "Is she okay?"

Spock frowned at the gun. "Mr. Chekov, I assure you there's no need to-"

"They're hugging," Uhura interrupted.

Pavel craned his neck to see for himself. The gun hung loosely in his hand. Sure enough, Cat was laughing and pressing her face into the side of Jim's neck. Jealousy forced him to keep staring though he knew he should look away.

"I was under the impression that Dr. Greenberg and Jim had a falling out of sorts. This is a strange interaction for them to have," Spock commented.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Bones reassured Pavel as he clapped him on the back. "They go way back."

"That man's more hot and cold than a woma-" Scotty said before catching a glare from Jaylah. "Than a room temperature regulation system, I meant."

"You shall see me cold now, Montgomery Scotty," she warned him with a finger wagging in his face.

"Okay, okay. Wait. Yesterday he was going to _hurt her_ if I hadn't been zere," Chekov snapped. "What is zis?" He watched intently and only sat back down when Cat finally broke apart from the captain and made her way to the bar at last. When the crew watched for his next move, he shook his head. "Sorry. Dr. Greenberg can speak to who she wants to, of course. I just- he was going to _hurt_ her. Why would she _hug_ him?"

"I'm afraid I can't help in this situation," Spock offered. "Common sense would dictate that Dr. Greenberg keep her distance from the captain, but it seems that her interaction with him was favorable. Perhaps Lieutenant Uhura would have more of an insight as to what the doctor is thinking."

"Not a clue," Uhura growled. "He's abusive. Why would she go back to him? Who cares how long they've been friends?"

"That complicates things," Bones interjected. "It's not like she can just cut all ties with him. A kid like that doesn't grow up with many friends. She was always in classes, and Jim was there. They're close. Not that close," he added for Pavel's benefit.

"So? Now he's trying to kill her because she won't sleep with him," Uhura spat. "Things change. You adapt or you die. It's the primary rule of space. Adapt or die."

"Sounds like a fun conversation," Cat announced as she returned with a tray full of drinks. "Vodka on the rocks, two Scotches neat, three pink wines, and a glass of water for the Vulcan. Cheers." She leaned against the table next to Pavel and sipped at her wine. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing," Pavel quickly responded, smiling and shaking his head. "Ze usual chatter." He took his vodka and took a long drink.

"Head's up," Bones mumbled a moment later.

Pavel and Uhura groaned aloud as Captain Kirk made his way toward them, waving sheepishly. "Hey," he exhaled when he finally reached them. His shirt was soaked with what looked like red wine. It gave him a sinister appearance. "I've never made it through one of these without someone spilled their drink on me, so the tradition continues," he chuckled.

"Just like when you were a kid," Cat laughed. "Always the dirtiest one in the room."

"Hey, now, there's no need to talk about my personal life," Jim joked.

Though he'd been trying to squash his masculine urges out of respect, Pavel slipped his arm around Cat's waist and casually pulled her back against him. Cat nestled against him to get comfortable and continued to drink and laugh as if nothing was happening. Jim, however, noticed the move and averted his gaze in obvious discomfort. Pavel took a drink of vodka and stared the captain down. _I'll be damned if he's going to touch her._ It felt primitive to be making a public show of ownership, but Chekov hoped it would be enough to dissuade the captain from the games he was playing with Cat. Now, perched on his lap as he sat on the bar stool, Cat was laughing at the dirty jokes Scotty told. Her eyes sparkled. Her laughter fell from her lips easily. Though she seemed to be perfectly happy with Jim in their circle, Pavel couldn't erase the memory of her falling to the floor, her eyes white in terror, grasping at her neck and gasping for air after he'd wrestled Jim away from her only 24 hours ago.

Pavel continued to leer and drink his vodka. His grip around Cat's waist much tighter than necessary, as if he expected Kirk to pull her away. Everyone was laughing and joking, wide smiles on their faces and drinks in their hands. Though a slight air of awkwardness hung about them, no one seemed to notice the silent standoff between the men. Spock smiled at Uhura. Scotty told jokes. Jaylah roared in laughter. Kirk was looking everywhere but to the new couple.

When Jim finally caught eye contact with Pavel, he gave a slight nod. "I'd better keep moving. It's not often I'm in the same room as the night shift crew," he explained before setting down his empty glass.

Pavel pursed his lips and gave a curt nod back. He pulled his arm back but let his hand rest on the doctor's waist. "I'm sure you're very busy with all of zese guests, Keptain."

Jim nodded and turned to leave, but Cat called after him. "Jim, wait! Remember to-"

"I'll come by when I'm free this week," Jim replied. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "I promise. We've got some off-ship stuff to do, but I'll come by soon." With that, he turned and blended in with the crowd of party-goers.

In that moment Pavel realized he was capable of more jealousy and ill thoughts toward human another than he had ever imagined.


	9. Physical

Captain Kirk lounged casually in the commander's chair. He laughed at stories that came up. He was optimistic about the week's planned on-planet missions. Spock and Bones had returned to his side and the trio carried on business as usual. Captain Kirk seemed to be back to normal.

Pavel Chekov hated him for it.

On the Monday after the party, Chekov couldn't tear his attention away from the captain. Kirk had thrown Dr. Greenberg against a wall one evening and been laughing with her the next. Something didn't add up. Cat was a smart woman. Why she tolerated Jim's actions and presence, even _welcomed_ him, he had no idea. It infuriated him.

Now, every move Jim made angered Pavel. Every word he spoke. Every command he gave. The stupid way he wore his hair.

"Mr. Chekov, do you have an ETA for us?" Jim asked.

"Yes, Keptain," Chekov grumbled. "We will be on planet een fifteen meenutes."

"Great," Jim exclaimed. He pointed to Sulu. "Suit up! You're coming down with me. Everyone listen up for a minute!" he called to the crew. "You're all getting trained in diplomacy. Surprise! In the event that I'm unable to meet up with dignitaries, I'll need you to step in for me. This week's targets are already friends of the Federation. Shouldn't be anything too trying for your first go around. I'll put out a schedule later this afternoon."

Sulu nodded. "Okay. I can handle that, Captain." He rose and followed Kirk to the dressing room.

Pavel turned in his seat, adjusted the coordinates slightly, and scowled freely.

"What's your problem?" Uhura asked as she passed by him a moment later. "Looks like you just ate a lemon."

Pavel snorted. "More time with ze keptain. Wonderful. Is exactly what I wanted."

"Yeah, right?" The lieutenant perched next to him on the edge of the conn and crossed her arms. "Has Cat said any more about what's going on between them?"

"No," Pavel replied. "She told him to stop by. I don't know if he has, or what for." Righteous anger swelled and felt as if he would spew it everywhere. "I can't ask her. I can't tell her not to see him. She can do as she pleases. She is not _mine._ Zat is what's frustrating. I want to help her, but I cannot without seeming, seeming,"

"Misogynistic. Got it," Uhura agreed. "Yeah, well, if Jim drops this act and snaps, she might not be around to be anybody's," Uhura mumbled. She knelt down besides Pavel's chair and leaned in. "I still think there's something wrong with Jim. I'm not buying this happy face he's got on. We need to do something about it."

"Like what? He is ze keptain," Pavel whispered back.

"And Cat is your girlfriend, isn't she?"

Pavel shrugged. "I thought so until ze party. Now it's like ze keptain never touched her. She worked zis weekend and I have not spoken to her. I don't want to smother her." He gritted his teeth. "But if I hadn't been zere when he was holding her against ze wall-"

"Yeah. So quit being so polite and make sure he stays away from her. I'm trying to make sure _she_ stays away from _him,_ " Uhura explained. "Spock is trying, bless his heart, to sneak me information about Jim. You can imagine how it's going."

Slouching back in his chair, Pavel nodded. "What if we _aren't_ together? What if it was a one-night stand? Maybe ze keptain is her _real_ boyfriend." He moodily punched in a few figures to the screen before crossing his arms over his chest. "I feel so _used._ "

Uhura snorted. "I think Cat's just trying to squash this thing with Jim. Don't worry about it, okay?" She stood back up and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"Okay," Pavel lied as the lieutenant crossed back to her work station. He called up a picture of Cat's face in his mind. _Please, please, please stay safe._

* * *

 _Kirk, James T._  
 _DOB: 3/22/2228_  
 _ABORh: O+_  
 _6.0' 175lb._

Dr. Greenberg smiled down at the medical chart before her. "Here's what I'm thinking. We'll do a general physical and I'll pull some blood samples. Once we have the results we'll go from there. We can get more specific, if needed. We'll start ruling things out."

Captain Kirk was sitting on the exam table in the medical bay with an apprehensive look on his face. "Thanks, again, Cat." He rubbed his arm anxiously. He's stripped down to his boxers and undershirt.

Emily entered the room and cleared her throat. "I'm afraid you're also not caught up on your tetanus vaccination. I'll have to administer that for you, Captain. If you'll drop your trousers, I can take care of that."

Kirk hopped off of the table and reached for his waistband, but Cat held up a hand. "Whoa, no! It can be administered just as easily in the arm, Emily," she scolded her. She shot the nurse a look that said _Nice try._

Emily shrugged. "That is one way to do it." She held up the syringe and aimed for his bicep.

Jim jumped. "Hey, whoa. I don't love needles."

"Believe it or not, I've never met anyone who _does_ love them." Emily swiftly jabbed him in the arm. "There you go. All done!"

"Thanks," Jim grumbled.

"I'd poke you any day," Emily giggled. She unwrapped a bandage and took her time applying it to his arm. "I'm surprised I could get the vaccine in with all that muscle in the way."

"All right, I think we're all set. Thank you, Emily," Cat growled.

As soon as she'd left, Kirk raised an eyebrow. "She's something. Props to her for being so," he hesitated, "real."

"Sorry about that," Cat sighed. "The other nurses are very professional, I assure you. And I'm pretty sure you're the only one who'd get that special treatment, let's call it?" She clipped a device on the captain's finger and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm. "Relax. This won't take too long."

He shifted nervously. "You really think some sort of imbalance could be causing this?"

"I'm certain," Cat replied confidently. "I don't know what else it could possibly be. We'll get it figured out, balance you out, and it'll be like nothing ever happened."

"I don't know that it'll ever be like anything ever happened," Jim sighed. "I broke a girl's nose. I have a call with the admiral about that next week. Plus, Mr. Chekov hates me. He tries to hide it, but it's obvious." His voice fell flat.

Cat cleared her throat and recorded the measurements. "Blood pressure looks good."

"Come on, Cat, I'm not going to snap. Is Chekov all right? He's usually so energetic, or something. Now he sits there and shoots daggers at me. It's not like he can even be mad at me! I knew you first."

Cat put her stethoscope in her ears and held the chestpiece against his back. "Deep breath for me, please? And another?" After a few moments of listening, she nodded, satisfied. "Your chest sounds are healthy and normal. This is all good so far. Lie back. I'm going to check your organs, just by touching your abdomen with my hands. Tell me if anything hurts or feels tender."

Jim put his hands behind his head as he lie on the table. As the doctor palpated his neck and abdomen, he asked, "Has Chekov said anything about work? About me?"

"I'm afraid I haven't spoken with him since your birthday party," Cat replied. _Pavel._ The thought and guilt associated with her lack of communication was enough to distract her for a moment. Of course she had noticed Pavel's abrupt change of mood after she'd hugged Jim at his party. That irritated her. They'd been on two dates, more or less, and Pavel was already acting like a jealous boyfriend. That he assumed she was romantically interested in Jim after he'd nearly choked her to death in her apartment was infuriating. Yet the weekend had given Cat time to cool off and see his side of things. He was chivalrous to a fault, which is why she liked him. This was one of the 'fault' times.

"Okay, well, you'll have to let me know what he says." Jim sat back up.

"Any physical health complaints?" Cat asked clinically. She flipped a page on her clipboard and poised her pen to write. "Headaches, trouble passing urine, short of breath, anything of that sort? Nothing's too small to bring up."

"No, nothing like that."

"Okay. Good, good, good. Now we're going to do a cranial nerve exam." Cat grabbed a flashlight and turned back to Jim. "Follow the light with your eyes, but don't move your head."

"Kit Cat. I know this is your job and all, but talk to me. There must be something I can do to get Chekov back to his usual self. If looks could kill, I'd have been in here long ago." Jim followed the flashlight beam back and forth with his eyes, then broke away and stared at Cat.

"I really haven't gotten a chance to talk to him."

"But you're together, right?" Jim reached out and lowered the flashlight from his face.

Cat drew her hand back from his touch and cleared her throat. "Read the eye chart behind me, please?"

"Why won't you tell me?" Jim snapped. He reached out and grabbed Cat's wrist to catch her attention.

She pulled it away. "Lost in my work, I suppose. It won't be too much longer. We're almost done. Read the third line, if you would."

"A, K, B, P, F, J, R," Jim spouted in annoyance. "Cat. Answer me. I'm trying to make things better, damn it!" Jim suddenly stood from the exam table.

Raising an eyebrow, Cat sat back and rolled away from Jim. "When you had your violent outbursts, in my apartment, when you broke the red shirt's nose, did you have thoughts of violence beforehand?"

Jim's face had grown red and he was panting. "Thoughts of violence? What, you think I'm a psychopath?"

"Please sit down," Cat said sternly. "Emily, would you bring in some water for Captain Kirk?"

Emily appeared almost immediately and pressed a bottle of water into the captain's hand. Her mischievous grin from earlier had disappeared. Dr. Greenberg had invoked the emergency protocol for dangerous patients. The nurse hovered by the door. "Anything else, Dr. Greenberg?"

"Ah, maybe, if you'd hang out for a minute," Cat replied as casually as she could. She turned back to Jim, whose nostrils were flaring in and out as he breathed. "Have you had thoughts of hurting yourself or others, Jim?"

Jim sneered. "No, I don't sit around planning how I'm going to hurt my crew. Is that why she's here now?" he asked, jerking his head toward the nurse. "You think I'm going to _hurt you?_ "

"Yes, that's exactly why she's here, Captain," Cat replied unapologetically. "Are you in a state to continue our cranial nerve exam? We don't want anyone to get hurt." She studied his face and tried to recall her psychiatry unit from the academy. _Multiple personalities? Bipolar disorder? Manic depression?_

"Am I in a _state?_ " the captain snapped. "I thought I was here to figure out what's wrong with me, not have you act like my mother." He glowered at Cat, then Emily. "I've had enough." He snatched his clothes from the floor and pulled them on hastily. "I don't need this. I don't need this! I'm the _Captain_ of the Enterprise. I don't need some child doctor telling me I get angry sometimes."

"Jim," Cat said gently, "you know it's much more than getting angry. We won't be able to determine what's wrong if we don't finish the exam and get some blood sam-"

"Well, tell that to the next guy before your start telling him he's a shitty person," Jim growled.

Emily jumped out of the way as Kirk stormed out of the medical bay, swearing under his breath. "Geeze," she whispered. After a moment, she shrugged. "I've gotta say, I still wouldn't mind him channeling that aggression into a one night stand."

 _"No."_ Cat scribbled down the details of the outburst in the patient file and dropped it onto the table. "He's not in his right mind. I can't have him breaking your nose, too."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So how are you going to get him back in here for the blood tests and the rest of the cranial?"

Cat sighed. "I'm not sure."

"Well," Emily announced, looking at her watch, "he's certainly not coming back today. It's shift change anyway and I'm starving. Let's head to the caf and catch up."

* * *

Cat turned and nearly upset her tray as she collided with a crew member. "Ach, sorry," she exclaimed as she set her water glass upright before it soaked any more of her dinner. Cat heard Emily giggle before she looked up to see who she'd crashed into. Dark blonde curls and dark green eyes greeted her.

"Sorry," Pavel exclaimed. "I turned around and zere you were."

"Same," Cat smiled. "Funny how that happens. I was thinking of you today."

The couple shared a goofy smile until Emily snorted and exclaimed, "Hate to break up the moment, but my food's getting cold over here. Let's sit down." She jerked her head toward the far end of the dining hall. "I think Jose and a few of the others are at the usual table. You can come if you want, Mr. Chekov."

"Sure!," Cat replied. "The nurses don't bite."

"I'm here with Mr. Sulu and Mr. Spock," he replied. "I'll stop by later, if you want," he suggested to the doctor. His lips tugged upward in a hopeful grin.

"Actually, it's all right," Cat replied. "Why don't we sit with them, Em?"

Emily frowned. "You never eat with us anymore."

"I just don't get here often. Come on. What do you say?" She nodded toward Sulu and Spock's table in the opposite direction.

When the only response was an icy glare, Pavel jumped in. "Eat with your friends!" he encouraged the doctor. "I'll come by later."

Cat's face fell, but she nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Thanks," Emily told Pavel coldly before turning and marching back toward the nurses' table. Cat followed. When they reached the table, the nurses were laughing and chattering animatedly. The new recruits wore horrified looks on their faces. The more experienced nurses were telling tales of gruesome injuries and space illnesses; trying to top one another with the most disgusting story.

"Ah, ah, ah," Cat chided. "No work talk at dinner or outside the med bay. Privacy's important. Loose lips sink ships."

The nurses clammed up. The new recruits looked worried.

"Ah, Em," Jose fake-whined, "why'd you bring the boss by? Now we won't have any fun at all." He cracked a smile. "Hey, Doc!"

"Hello, Jose. Nice to see you, Vorrock," Cat greeted the new male nurse. To the new female, she said, "And Heva, you too. How's it going so far? Enjoying your time on the Enterprise?"

The nurses nodded.

"Great," Cat replied with a smile. "Please let me know if there's anything you need. I have an open door, at work or at home. Don't listen to Jose. I'm way more fun that most of the bosses on this ship."

The nurses nodded once more.

"Except she's never there," Emily scoffed through a mouth full of tofu.

The nurses exchanged concerned looks. Their hands nervously fidgeted with their silverware.

"She's always with her boyfriend and the captain's crew." Emily shrugged at Cat. "Don't look so shocked! It's true." Turning back to the nurses, she added, "Remember how I said you're better off coming to us than Dr. McCoy? Dr. Greenberg's the same way now."

"Emily, that's not true," Cat said sternly. "I love my crew and my job. Like I said," she continued, turning to the new nurses, "my door's always open."

Emily stabbed at her food viciously. "Sure thing, boss."


	10. Clarity

Cat's door stood before him, but Pavel couldn't muster the chutzpah to knock.

 _She knows you're being possessive. Jealousy isn't becoming._

The metal of the door was clean and inviting. Beyond it, Cat was likely curled up on the teal couch with a book. Pavel ran a hand through his hair and let the inner debate continue.

 _She deserves someone who will keep her safe. I'm only trying to keep ze keptain from hurting her. It is not jealousy – it is caution. Right?_

Would the doctor agree? She was a strong, independent woman, but had showed gratitude, not anger, when he'd stumbled in and tackled Kirk.

 _The only way to know is to ask._

Sounds came from inside Dr. Greenberg's apartment. Pavel pressed his ear to the door and closed his eyes. It was singing. Cat's voice tripped easily over syllables and twisted into an eerie melody that Pavel couldn't have interrupted if he wanted. He wondered if the tune was something from her childhood in Minnesota, or some old tune that time had forgotten as the beep and whirr of machinery had replaced the twang of harp and guitar.

A voice broke the melody. "Mr. Chekov, isn't it? Do you need assistance?" a security officer asked suspiciously as she approached from down the hallway.

"No, no," Pavel said in a hushed tone as he jumped away from the door. "I am visiting my girlfriend, she knows I'm coming, but I haff never heard her sing. I am only listening."

The officer narrowed her eyes, listened at the door, then nodded. "All right. With all the strange things going on lately, I might not want to be seen listening outside someone's door."

Pavel nodded. "Just a little longer, zen I'll go in." He leaned back on the door and felt his mind go blank at the words that were just a little too muffled to understand through the door.

Inside, Cat absentmindedly sang to herself as she tidied up the apartment. It wasn't a mess, but she cleaned anyway. _Idle hands are the devil's workshop,_ she heard her grandmother saying.

No matter how many times Cat swept, whenever she walked through the kitchen, a stray splinter leftover from the stool Kirk had broken found the sole of her foot. Her apartment had once been her refuge from a crazy day in the medical bay. Now it was a constant reminder of her dark situation with the captain. Singing louder, Cat pushed the memory from her head. She'd paint. She'd make herself new decorations. The apartment would grow and change, and so would she.

When the trash bin was full, she snatched it from its receptacle and slipped on her shoes to take it down the hall. The moment the door unlatched, it fell open toward her with a strange force. The garbage fell to the floor with a soft _thud_ as a body collapsed into her apartment and landed at her feet with a " _whoa!"_

"Pavel?" Cat exclaimed in bemusement. "What are you doing?"

Blushing up at her from the floor, Pavel replied, "Listening." He stumbled to his feet and leaned against the door. _Casual._ "I, ah, I was going to knock, but I'd never heard you sing."

"Now you know why," Cat giggled. Thanks to Pavel's less-than-graceful entrance, she wasn't embarrassed. "Are you all right?'

"Fine, fine," Pavel shrugged. "Here, are you taking that out? Allow me." He snatched the trash bag from the floor and excused himself back into the hallway. The door shutting behind him didn't drown out Cat's peals of laughter.

The bar was nearly empty, but it sounded anything but thanks to Scotty, Keenser, and Jaylah's obnoxious laughter and carrying-on. They'd taken up in a booth at the back of the bar.

"Another," Jaylah demanded as she poured another round of shots.

"We have to work in the morning, Woman!" Scotty scolded her as he took the glass anyway. "To Krall sucking us into that trap so I could meet you!" He raised his glass and clinked it against the others before sucking down the liquor.

Keenser glared at him, but Scott shrugged. "It's not _my_ fault you got yourself kidnapped. We had a perfectly good time, for the most part."

" _Another,_ " Jaylah commanded.

Keenser pushed his glass back to her and she refilled it. "To Montgomery Scotty for getting us jobs on the Enterprise!" she called out.

The small alien clinked his glass on the table before downing it.

The door swung open and Captain Kirk skulked in.

"To Captain James T. Kirk!" Scotty called out as he sloppily poured another shot. Jaylah looked up in concern, but Scott waved him over to the table. "Get over here, Jim! Have a drink with us."

"I didn't think anyone would be in here on a Monday night," Jim said as he sat next to Jaylah.

She cleared her throat and scooted closer to the wall.

"Well, it's Monday. What better reason than to be at the bar?" Scotty took a clean glass, filled it, and slid it across the table to the captain. "To drinking on Mondays!"

"Hear, hear," Jim cheered.

Jaylah pouted her lips at Scotty, and when he shook his head, she puffed out her chest and spoke boldly. "What you are doing here? I thought you were to meet with the admiral to get in trouble."

"Yeah, I did." Jim grimaced. "Since we're all the way out here, they couldn't bring me in, but I've got a huge pay deduct and classes once we dock back at a Federation base." He fidgeted with his empty shot glass and avoided eye contact.

"Good," Jaylah replied, her head held high. "I would have fire you if I was admiral."

"Then I'm glad you're not the admiral," he mumbled back.

"I wish I was," Jaylah challenged him.

"You got something to say?" Jim snapped, slamming his empty glass onto the table and jerking his torso toward her.

Though she was cornered, Jaylah didn't shrink away. "I say it already. You do not deserve to be captain!" Jaylah's lip curled.

"But I am and I can write you up for-"

"Jim, Jaylah, let's calm down, eh?" Scott held up his hands between the pair to break their locked eyes. Jaylah refused to break the showdown, but Jim did when he stood up and shoved the liquor bottle across the table into the wall.

"Keep your bitch in check, Mr. Scott," Jim ordered before marching out.

Keenser looked nervously between Jaylah and Scotty, waiting for the next argument of the night to erupt between them.

"I think that's a night," Scotty said quietly.

When Chekov returned, Cat had settled on the couch and set two glasses of wine on the coffee table. "So," he began, "I just wanted to catch up. I haff not seen you since ze party."

"You don't need a _reason_ to come by," Cat replied. His sheepishness was cute. She watched him fidget with his communicator and jacket. "I enjoy seeing you. Here!"

"I'm not much of a wine drinker," he confessed when Cat gestured to his glass from the couch.

"More for me," Cat replied with a wink. "How was work? We never hear anything good when anyone goes on-planet. The only time we hear anything is when it goes badly, then we know _all_ about it because we're treating it."

"Ah, it was ze same old. Mr. Sulu went with ze keptain to meet with ze dignitaries. We're all getting trained for it, I'm afraid." He lowered himself onto the opposite end of the couch.

Cat hesitated before smiling. "Sounds fun?"

Pavel chuckled. "Exactly. But how was your day?"

"Oh, fine," Cat replied quickly. The answer hung in the air and the doctor regretted it. It _hadn't_ been fine. Kirk had another outburst during his physical. The possibility that he had told the bridge crew he was going to the med bay was suddenly glaringly obvious to her. She decided to confess. "Ah, actually, Jim came by to get checked out. It didn't go well."

A pang of jealous curiosity struck. _She's the doctor. Of course he went to her,_ Chekov reminded himself. "What happened? Are you-"

"I'm fine," Cat quickly recovered. "He just lost it in the middle of the exam. He was really angry. He went from zero to warp speed in no time flat. We didn't even get any blood samples drawn, so we're not a lot closer to figuring out what's wrong with him."

"Couldn't it be zat he's jealous? Who says it's a physical problem?" He crossed his arms and took a quick breath to calm himself. "Not every bad person has a health issue making them so."

Her childhood loyalty to Jim took the words as an insult. "I've known him for a long time, and this definitely isn't like him." Cat drained her glass and reached for the second. _He's just trying to help,_ she chided herself. "As a doctor, I have to see the proof. I have to rule everything out. I have to give him that chance as the ship's doctor _and_ as his friend."

"Can I just say what's been on my mind?" Pavel leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and hands laced together between them. When Cat nodded, he took a breath. "We haff seen each other only a few times. I haff liked you for so long, and zis is a lot to process. Is complicated. Off course it's not your fault," he added quickly. The room was suddenly hot. Sweat formed at his hairline. "I need to ask – but I don't know how." He exhaled and laughed nervously.

Cat watched him intently. She sensed a break-up coming. _Over before it even began. Thanks, Jim._ She took a long drink from the second glass of wine.

 _Get it over with,_ Pavel urged himself. "I do not mean to be so forward. Is ze keptain, is zere a relationship zat I don't know about? I do not want to get in ze middle of something if you're-"

" _No!"_ Cat exclaimed. "There's nothing between us. I promise there's not some old flame you're stepping on."

Not convinced, Pavel kept the silence.

"Jim has always been like a brother," Cat stumbled. "Maybe I did love him once, in that way. Never romantically. Oh, God, no."

Pavel nodded. "I had to hear it. Ze way he acts – is like a jealous lover. I haff done ze same, and I'm sorry. Even if you _were_ involved with ze keptain, it isn't my busin-"

"I'd like for it to be your business," the doctor finished for him. Relief made her giddy. She could have sworn Pavel's visit was to break things off in the wake of Kirk's drama. "Whatever's going on with Jim – I'm certain it's a health problem. No history. No secret romance." She laughed. "I thought you were coming to break up with me."

"Break up?" Pavel exclaimed. "Aye-yi-yi, no, no! I – I wasn't even sure we were together."

Cat giggled. "Oh. Oops."

"But – but," Pavel stammered, "we, we can be! Do you want zat? We can do zat!"

"I want zat," Cat repeated, imitating his accent.

It was as if his insides had melted. The doctor's sparkling eyes and sassy smile were picture-perfect. "Zen zat's what you'll have," he replied as he move to her side of the couch and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.


	11. Tardy

"Knock knock," a voice came at the medical bay door.

Emily straightened and smiled. "Captain Kirk." She'd been alone in the bay, covering during a slow time while the others were on lunch break.

"I'm really sorry for the other day." Kirk chewed at the inside of his lip and lingered at the door. "Is Dr. McCoy or Dr. Greenberg in? They're right. I do need to get this temper figured out. That wasn't me, okay?" He slowly entered the room at Emily's beckon. "I apologize for how I behaved."

"I understand completely, Captain," she nodded sympathetically as she sorted through a drawer for the captain's file. "Unfortunately both docs are out at the moment, but I can certainly take the blood for you. That's the only thing we didn't get done during the physical. Everything else indicates that you should be functioning at top condition."

Kirk nodded. "That'd be great. What blood tests are you running?"

Emily flipped through the chart and nodded, impressed. "More than you'd think we were capable of up here."

"Well, good, I guess," Jim sighed. He rolled up his sleeve. "Take as much as you need to figure this thing out. Cat- Dr. Greenberg was right all along. Something's a little out of whack up there." He gestured toward his head. "I'll need to apologize to her for the other day, too."

Emily swiftly slid the needle into the captain's arm and shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. She's got a lot going on and has probably forgotten about it by now."

Jim looked up in surprise. "Really? I've acted like a madman and she doesn't think it's a big deal?"

Emily turned away from the captain and pretended to adjust some equipment. A wicked smile spread on her face as she realized her chance to win back her friend from the clutches of the navigator. "You think _you're_ a madman? She deals with worse on a regular basis, I think."

Suspicion settled on the captain's face. "What do you mean? Is someone harassing her?"

"I'm not saying it's going bad, but she sure isn't herself anymore," she suggested. "You know how women can be when- oh! Nothing."

"When what?" Jim looked back up from the needle in his arm. "Don't beat around the bush, Emily."

Emily waved a hand and switched out vials, pleased to watch the second begin filling with blood. "I've had lots of girlfriends in bad relationships. When things aren't going well, they do whatever they can just to make sure their man doesn't get angry. If the man's happy, the woman's safe."

Jim's expression had snapped quickly to that of an authoritative leader. "To stay _safe_? Are you saying-"

"Oh, no, no," Emily quickly sang out. "I'm not saying anything."

"If one of my crew members is in danger, I need to know about it, Emily. Is something going on between Mr. Chekov and Dr. Greenberg that's putting either one of them in danger?" His nostrils flared and lip twitched.

Emily removed another full vial of blood and attached another empty one to the needle. "Captain, I'd prefer she didn't know I'm the one who brought it up. I haven't seen anything with my own eyes, but the signs are all there. Maybe a switch in schedules or something will put an end to things, if you know what I mean?" The nurse was relieved that she wasn't the one under medical observation. Her heart was racing at the thrill of the tale she was weaving. "I'd hate to see Cat in one of these beds because of an argument or something."

Kirk exhaled harshly and gritted his teeth. "Can anyone else confirm this?"

"That Dr. Greenberg has been withdrawn and only seen out with the likes of Mr. Chekov? Certainly," Emily repeated. Fear crept in. What if the other crew members didn't back her up? _Cat is blind with love and has completely forgotten us,_ she thought angrily to herself. Her actions were justified, she decided. The nurse shrugged. "Forget I brought it up."

"Are you certain she's not just invested in her new relationship? Lots of times when crew members get together-"

"Oh, we've been friends through school and now here on the Enterprise," Emily explained. "This is nothing like I've ever seen her do before." She popped off the vial and removed the needle from the captain's arm. "That'll be enough for the barrage of tests we're performing! I'll let one of the doctors know they're here immediately."

Jim rolled his sleeve back down. Frowning, he studied Emily. "Why bring this to me, and not Dr. McCoy or Human Resources?"

"I just thought you'd care more than them, and make sure something's done before she gets hurt. Mr. Chekov is a charming guy when he wants to be, but I'm really not sure about behind closed doors." Emily pursed her lips. She'd made her move. There was no taking it back. Either she'd win Cat's affection back, or she'd lose her forever.

"Let me know of the test results as soon as they're ready," Jim replied before exiting the room with a look of confusion on his face.

* * *

"If only ze lunch hour was longer," Pavel mumbled into Cat's neck. He marveled at the fact that she hadn't broken a sweat. Despite the vigorous activity, her skin still carried that light floral aroma.

"Then it wouldn't be a lunch _hour,_ would it?" the doctor giggled from next to him on the bed. They'd met in her apartment and made the most of the time. "Besides, it's not like the ship can function without its navigator." She propped herself up against a pillow and sighed joyfully. "Though if the ship crashed into a meteor, I don't think I'd care too much right now."

Now Pavel was absent mindedly playing with her hair and catching his breath. "Ze coordinates have been set for days. We have only but to wait to get to ze next planet. My calculations rarely need adjusting. I could stay here longer." He smoothed back a flyaway hair at Cat's temple. "And I'd never crash into a meteor! Even while een bed with you."

"You _are_ good," Cat purred, sliding swiftly out of bed. "I'm going to be late. The second I'm not there, there will be some outbreak or trauma."

"Mr. Bones is never in ze med bay when he is supposed to be. No one would say anything if you were, say, five minutes late." He got out of bed and snatched her hand as she moved toward the mirror to fix her hair. "Five more meenutes."

Cat giggled and tried to pull away from him. "I should have gone five minutes ago."

He squeezed her hand playfully. "You'll break my heart."

She tugged again. "We'll break my bed if we end up in it again."

With a firm pull, Pavel's strength prevailed and she collided against him. "Five more meenutes," he repeated against her lips as his hands trailed down her bare body, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

"Five more," Cat whispered, her legs gone to jelly and an electric sensation buzzing over her skin. She could feel Pavel was ready for another round, and though they should have had their fill of the other's body, her mouth watered in anticipation.

Pavel didn't struggled when she pulled him down onto the mess of blankets with her. As he positioned himself to use his mouth on her, she trembled in anticipation. His hot breath on her thighs was enough to make her moan. "I'm going to be _so late."_

"Worth it," Pavel mumbled happily before flicking his tongue against her.

Cat gave a soft yelp. "When you get written up, it's not my fault," she panted through a grin.

"You can write me a note. Had to remain in bed. Doctor's orders."


	12. Beam Us Down

"Mr. Chekov, it's your training day. You're beaming down with me for this meeting. Suit up," Kirk announced later that week.

Pavel nodded. "Aye, Keptain." He double checked the coordinates and nodded, impressed at his impeccable work. He rose, stretched, and strolled to the closet for his landing outfit. The training wasn't his ideal afternoon, but things had been looking up for the past few days. The captain hadn't spared him any dirty looks, made any remarks, or had any contact with Cat. Things seemed to have righted themselves now that Kirk was actively monitoring his diet, exercise, and waiting for telling blood test results to explain his outbursts. He'd been a bear all afternoon, but seemed fine at the moment.

"Be careful, Pavel," Uhura hissed as he passed her station.

"Off course," he replied breezily. "Eet's only training. Ze keptain will be making contact. I will just be his back up."

Uhura pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay. See you soon, okay?" She bit her lip as studied his face.

Sheepishly grinning, Pavel nodded and raised a hand in a lazy wave before joining the captain in the beaming area.

"Beam us down, Mr. Scott," Kirk called out calmly.

Uhura felt a knot drop into her stomach as the pair dematerialized.

* * *

Cat finished lunch and tidied up her apartment. Her shift began in a few minutes, but she had enough time to clean up. As she hastily made the bed, a piece of gray material fell from the sheets and landed at her feet. Cat smiled when she realized what it was. Pavel's sweatshirt.

The goofy smile and warm sensation in her chest struck her as funny. _It's just a sweatshirt,_ she thought. Nevertheless, she brought it to her face and pressed her nose into it. _Pavel._

More and more of his things had been "forgotten" at her apartment, and hers at his. They were constantly running back and forth from place to place, seeking clothing, shoes, toothbrushes. At what point had they started doing that? Cat couldn't place a date, yet here in her hands was Pavel's sweatshirt. His communicator charger on her night stand. His shampoo in her bathroom. His casual shoes by her door. His vodka bottle on her counter. His leftover dessert in her fridge.

Blinking slowly and enjoying the realization that was dawning on her, Cat collapsed back onto the half-made bed and hugged the sweatshirt to her chest. _"_ Hey. I think I have news," she giggled into her communicator.

"What news? Is it good or bad?" Jaylah's voice answered immediately. She sounded as she always did: on alert and prepared to act if needed.

"I think it's good. I'm pretty sure."

"How you are not sure? What happened?"

The smell from the sweatshirt wafted into her nose again and she beamed like a fool. "Pavel left his sweatshirt here." She acknowledged and enjoyed the euphoria her brain chemicals was causing.

Jaylah snorted into the communicator. "What this is supposed to mean to me?"

"It just made me realize something."

"What? He is sloppy?"

"No. I think-" Cat grinned and closed her eyes for full effect, "I'm in love."

"I think you will be to work late," Jaylah scolded.

"This is a big realization," Cat said, crestfallen. "Really. You know when you just _feel_ it? That just hit me. Well, I mean, I think I have. I just didn't _get_ it, you know?" she rambled.

"So much human drama," her friend scoffed. "Everyone knew. And Pavel Chekov is in love with you. Duh. Go to work. I see you later."

* * *

Pavel raised an eyebrow and surveyed the barren landscape. They'd landed at the top of a canyon. "Keptain, zis is _not_ ze coordinates I entered. Someone must have bumped-"

"Turn off your communicator."

Pavel blinked.

Kirk swiftly silenced his communicator device and stared expectantly at Pavel. "This was a hostile planet – we don't want anyone ringing in and giving away our position, especially if we're not where we're supposed to be."

"We can comm for help. Plus, ze protocol, Keptain, eet says-"

"Turn it off, Mr. Chekov." Kirk threw hands out in exasperation. "You're with the captain. I swear I won't write you up. Just turn it off."

Chekov did so reluctantly. "Zis in nowhere near-"

"Yeah, it's not. I switched the coordinates when you were getting your suit." A sly grin slid onto Kirk's face. "We need to talk, Mr. Chekov. Man to man."

"Keptain, I really think we should turn ze communi-"

"No." Jim shook his head and rested his hands on his belt. "We're just going to talk, then we can have them beam us back up."

"Zere was no meeting, was zere?"

"You really think we're going to drop down onto a hostile planet and ask to meet with their leader?" Jim laughed darkly. "You're more naive than I thought, kid."

Pavel stepped away from the captain. His hand brushed against the cool metal of his gun and he immediately felt better. He nodded. "Okay, Keptain. What do you want to talk about?"

* * *

The medical bay was empty. Cat's mind was not. The first thing she'd seen on her desk was Jim's test results. Now she was poring over them again. They were clean. She convinced herself she'd missed some tell-tale sign of illness. On the fifth reread, Cat called out of her office into the bay. "Jose, can you think of anything that would cause a healthy patient to experience changes in personality?"

"Sure," the nurse answered, popping his head in. "Mental disorders, certain deficiencies." He leaned against the door frame. "We aren't just talking about any patient, are we?"

"No."

"The captain hasn't hurt anyone else, at least." Jose shrugged. "Sorry. Small ship. Hard to _not_ know who you're talking about."

Sighing, Cat massaged her temples. "He's still exhibiting symptoms of- of something."

Jose sat down in one of the chairs opposite Cat's. "Results came back clean, huh?" When Cat nodded, he exhaled and put his hands on the top of his head. "We can run a psychological exam on him and see what mental disorder he has. Maybe bipolar, maybe-"

"I already did." Cat drummed her fingers on the desk. "He's a little narcissistic, but there aren't any signs or symptoms of any mental instability. Of course, he was acting fine when he took the exam. But someone who's mentally sound doesn't attack crew members and fly off the handle into a violent fit."

"Well shit." Jose shook his head and threw his hands up. "What does Dr. McCoy think?"

"He says it's just stress." Cat rolled her eyes.

Jose raised an eyebrow and laughed in disbelief. "That's old school medicine right there. Listen, Doc, we've all been stressed. None of us have attacked anyone."

"Agreed. I think Dr. McCoy is just too close to Jim to be able to accept that something else might be going on." Cat stared at the test results, hoping by some magic something would pop out at her. "What could I be missing?"

"I'm an outsider. Maybe I can help." Jose cleared his throat. "Start from the beginning. When did symptoms start?"

Cat sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Since it's no secret, I guess I'll dish. Symptoms appeared after the first time I saw Mr. Chekov."

"When was that?"

"The week after the trip to Earth."

Jose narrowed his eyes. "Earth. Okay. Did he say he ate anything funny there? See anyone that bothered him?"

"No and no. I think he just spent some time in Iowa with his family." Cat touched her lips in thought. "Let's go that route. What in Iowa could have infected him? This would have been in July."

"I spent some time in those parts before. Hot. Humid. Not a ton of people, but enough." Jose thought for a moment, then sat up straight. "It could be a mosquito borne virus."

Cat's jaw fell open. _"That's it!_ Not a mosquito. A tick!"

Jose sat back in his chair. "Doc. You did it."

"No, no, _you_ figured it out!" Dr. Greenberg jumped out and clapped her hands on either of Jose's wide shoulders. "You're getting promoted."

As she hurried out the door, Jose called, "Dr. Greenberg! Where are you going?"

"I've got to find Dr. McCoy!"

* * *

Kirk circled around Pavel like a predatory beast. "I'm the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Mr. Chekov."

"Yes, of course, Sir," Pavel replied. He tried to keep Kirk in his peripheral sight to watch for fast movements. Though his heart hammered, Pavel kept his composure. Any sign of panic might set Jim off.

The captain kept a hand on his gun and made no secret about it. "And that means it's my job to keep my crew members safe."

"Of course."

Kirk stopped walked directly in front of the navigator. "I got a startling report, Mr. Chekov." Jim stared down his nose at Chekov momentarily. After a moment, he began walking again.

Pavel felt his head quirk to the side. "Keptain?"

"I got an anonymous report from one of the medical team that there's been some signs of abuse in one of my crew members."

"Abuse, Sir?"

The captain clicked his boots together and stopped in front of Pavel again. His gaze was void of any human emotion. "Yes, Mr. Chekov. The nurses seem to think that one of my doctors is involved in an abusive relationship. She's withdrawn. She's changing her habits. She isn't seeing her friends anymore. She's locked away. Hiding something. Don't those sound like signs of an abusive partner, Mr. Chekov?"

Pavel's jackhammering heart skipped a beat. "Zey could be signs of many things, Keptain."

"I have no reason to doubt the collective opinion of my medical team."

Sweat trickled down the back of Pavel's neck. He mentally checked that the weight of his gun was still at his hip. _Jim's not better after all._ "Perheps-"

"I told her to stay away from you," Jim suddenly snarled. He moved toward Chekov, who ducked out of his grasp.

"Please, Keptain! I have done nothing to her!" Pavel caught a wild haymaker in the side of the head and staggered. "Zis _is_ a hostile planet – we cannot risk zem finding us!" He danced out of the way as Kirk swung blows in his direction. "Keptain, stop!"

"That's bullshit!" Kirk hollered. His face was bright red and spittle collected at the corners of his mouth. "I told her to stay away from you!"

Pavel ducked behind a boulder and snatched for his communicator. Kirk dove for him, knocking Pavel to the ground. The phone skidded away from him. "No!" he gasped. Pavel crawled after it, but Kirk caught him by the boot. Pavel delivered a hard kick to the captain's face, effectively slowing him enough that Chekov could reach the communicator.

He moved to flip it back on, but the electronic buzz of the phaser behind him made Pavel drop the device to the ground.

* * *

Heavy footfalls pounded down the hall toward the med bay. "Talk to me," Jose called out as he rushed to prep a bed. He looked up and saw Jaylah scanning the room from the doorway.

"Where is Doctor Cat?" the woman demanded. "I have to tell her something!"

"She just left to talk to Dr. McCoy about something. Emily, break's over!" Jose called. "You look okay- is someone hurt somewhere?"

Emily appeared from the break room, dusting crumbs from her hands.

"I am not hurt, only trying to get to the Doctor Cat." Jaylah snarled and turned to leave, bursting into an immediate sprint.

"She'll be on the bridge," Jose called after her.

"What's her problem?" Emily asked.

"Not sure. Dr. Greenberg had a good hunch about what's going on with the captain, though." Jose left the supplies on the cart and went back to what he was doing.

"What's the hunch?" Emily asked, following after him.

"Lyme disease eating up his brain and making him violent. We got it just in time. Tick tock. That stuff gets worse, you know. Cap's been a ticking time bomb."

Emily froze. "There's actually something wrong? Like, it's affecting his brain? What does- does it affect his thought process?"

As her face contorted in horror, Jose scoffed. "What, you see a ghost up in here? Yeah it messes with your brain! You know that. But don't worry about it. We'll get him fixed up. We all owe Dr. Greenberg a lot, though. Captain Kirk could have snapped and killed someone if we didn't figure him out in time."

* * *

Cat whistled and practically skipped on her way to find Dr. McCoy. "Permission to come to the bridge!"

"Permission granted," Spock replied. He looked slightly surprised at her giddy state. "What can I do for you, Dr. Greenberg?"

"Dr. McCoy." Cat's head whipped back and forth as she searched for him. "I'm assuming he's here."

Spock nodded and turned to Bones. "Dr. Mc-"

Bones waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I hear. What's going on, Dr. Greenberg?"

"We cracked Jim's case," Cat hissed excitedly as she sat next to him. "It's not great, but at least we know what's going on. Of course we haven't confirmed without a blood sample, but I'd put money on it."

McCoy remained unimpressed. "Okay, so what is it?"

"Lyme disease," Cat exclaimed. "We were on Earth the week his symptoms began."

McCoy shook his head. "Nah. He hasn't been sick, Cat. Besides, how could we have missed it? Didn't you pull blood samples?"

"Yes, but we didn't run anything for Lyme."

Spock, who'd been eavesdropping, raised an eyebrow. "The captain hasn't shown any signs of physical distress, as is common with Lyme's disease."

"Hey," Bones groaned, "you're not supposed to be hearing this."

Spock was unabashed. "As Jim's friend and second in command, I feel I should be informed if there's something wrong with him that may render him unable to perform his duties."

"Whatever," Bones growled. He checked to make sure no one else was listening, then nodded. "We were on Earth. So? Doesn't mean it's Lyme disease. Unless you picked a tick off of him, what in the hell would make you think of that?"

Cat shook her head. "It can manifest itself in personality changes and mental imbalance. In one case, a straight A student started hearing voices. Another woman with no history of mental illness randomly developed manic depression. It's not a stretch that Jim would become violent. This disease can attack the brain and change the person. I think this is it. It's only going to get worse with time."

Bones seemed to be considering the possibility.

"Besides, when's the last time you saw his back, his scalp? If it's not something he could see in the mirror, Jim wouldn't know that he'd been bitten. He wouldn't see the bulls-eye rash that infected bites get." Cat crossed her arms over her chest. "Satisfied? We're pulling a sample and confirming this so we can see about treatment."

"All right. You convinced me. Good job, kid," Bones remarked. "He was in a hell of a mood before he and Chekov beamed down. Thought he was going to shoot up the place. At least we can fix him."

"What?" Cat whispered. She glanced to Chekov's spot. Her stomach dropped when she saw it unoccupied.

"Dr. McCoy said 'At least we can fix-" Spock repeated.

"Not that," Bones interrupted. "Jim was swearing and snarling and acting real weird. Then he calmed down in no time. Figured he just wasn't happy to be heading down. They're on a hostile planet." His confidence wavered. "That's when I thought he was just mad you weren't into him."

"Oh my god," Cat breathed. "And he's with Pavel?"

"Yeah." McCoy's face pulled into a grimace. "Oh, come on, Cat. Jim's beamed down with every crew member this week. He's not going to do anything to the kid, right?" He looked frantically to Spock.

"I cannot speak to the effects of this virus on the human mind," the Vulcan offered.

"Beam them back!" Cat and Bones shrieked in unison across the bridge.

"Dr. McCoy, Dr. Greenb-" Sulu began.

"The captain is not well," Bones snapped. "Get them back. Now."

Everyone looked up in shock before scurrying to beam the pair back to the Enterprise.

"I don't have them," Scotty replied from across the bridge. "They're not anywhere on the screen." He scanned around. "That can't be right. There must be a glitch. Hang on."

"No, we need them back _now."_ Cat ripped her communicator from her pocket. "Pavel, what's your location?" Static was the only response.


	13. Beam Us Back

"Dr. Cat!" Jaylah screeched as she flew back into the bridge space. "Dr. Cat! Mr. Pavel and James T. are-"

"I know," Cat snapped. She was hovering over Scotty on the bridge, still in shock at the quick turn of events. _Jim has Lyme disease, which can attack the brain and alter a person's entire attitude and personality. Pavel is on a hostile planet with him. No one's answering their communicators._ She took a shaky breath and wrung her hands. Being in control was her comfort zone. Even in the worst traumas, she was always in control. Yet this time there was nothing a doctor could do. Panic swelled and darted about in her chest, pushing her logical reasoning out the window. Cat lowered herself into Pavel's empty seat and tried to calm herself. _A panic attack is only going to make this worse,_ she warned herself.

"I'm going to beam down there and bring them back," Bones declared. "Damn it," he muttered with reluctance.

"You can't go down there," Sulu quickly replied. "It's too dangerous. This is hostile territory and we don't know where they beamed to."

Uhura cried out in frustration. "How are you so calm? Don't you even care?"

"I care," Sulu replied calmly. "Staying calm is the best way to resolve this quickly."

Ignoring the advice, Uhura blew up. "I _knew_ something was still wrong with him," she snarled. She turned to Scotty. "You knew it, too! Why didn't any of us do anything?" When she whipped her head toward Spock, he pretended not to see her.

"So what we are going to do?" Jaylah broke the silence.

Spock blinked a few times, then gave a short nod. "Mr. Scott, keep scanning for them. The easiest and most efficient course of action would be to locate and beam them back, as opposed to sending down a search landing party and risking more lives."

Protests and agreements broke out and bickering filled the air as Scotty's fingers flew frantically over the screen. Keenser had appeared to find Scotty, and took in the scene in confusion.

Though the chaos was thick and Dr. Greenberg saw her friends' mouths moving, her perspective fell silent. The edges of her vision slowly began to blur until someone grabbed her shoulder and gave her a rough shake.

"Dr. Cat," Jaylah barked. "Do not look so pale. This is a bad time."

Cat's lip trembled before she could hide it. "There's a very real possibility that Jim isn't in his right mind and Pavel is in real mortal danger."

Uhura leaned over Scotty's station and hurried him along as the screen continued to come up with barren land. "How can you not find them?" she hissed.

"I don't _know,_ " Scotty replied frantically. "There could have been a fluke in the program, but that's not likely. The wee lad never mentioned anything like that happening. Plus, his calculations have never been wrong, especially this wrong. It's like someone didn't want them to be found."

At that comment, the collective attitude on the bridge darkened further.

"Yeah, we're going down," Bones announced again. "If Jim beamed down to some secret place with the kid and they turned off their comms, nothing good is going to happen. I'm going down." As he pulled the landing suit from the closet, he swore.

"That's troubling," Spock muttered. "Going down on planet won't help us. We'll locate them, beam them back, and if for some reason that doesn't work, we'll go down."

"I'll come," Uhura declared.

"I didn't give you permission-" Spock started. His mouth audibly snapped shut when Uhura narrowed her eyes at him and silently challenged him to keep her on the ship. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but yes, if we do, you can come!"

* * *

"What did you do to Cat?"

It was almost a literal cliffhanger. Pavel's hands were pressed against the back of his head. His knees were digging into the rocky soil of the edge of the cliff overlooking the cavern. Inches separated him from falling to his death. If these were to be his last moments, Pavel thought humorlessly, at least he'd have a beautiful view of the rock formations for his last sight. In the other direction, death also loomed. The captain was behind him with the phaser pointed at his head.

"What did you _do_ to her?" Kirk screamed. His voice echoed eerily across the barren rock. " _Tell me!_ No one makes this shit up. Why would a nurse tell me her supervisor was being abused if it wasn't true?"

 _Emily._ Pavel licked his lips and tried to swallow. His mouth had gone dry. He could never put a finger on why he mistrusted Emily, but sure enough, his instincts had been right. "Nothing, Keptain. Cat is-"

Kirk pressed the barrel of the gun into Chekov's hands. "Bullshit."

"I would _never_ hurt her," Pavel pleaded. "Not anybody!"

" _Bullshit!"_ Kirk cried again, pulling the gun back after giving the navigator a small jab with it. He paced back and forth quickly as he weighed his options.

Pavel's eye ached from where the captain had punched him moments earlier. Soon it would swell, giving him the disadvantage in hand to hand combat. "Keptain, I'll submit to any questioning you haff. We can go to the council, to the admiral. I will go willingly. We _must_ get back to the ship. Eet is only a matter of time-"

"Quit your whining. My god, when did you become such a crybaby?" Jim sat on a rock and kept the gun trained on him. "No, we're going to sit right here until I come up with a solution. Do I let you come back to the Enterprise and continue to cause problems? Do I risk Cat's life?" His voice cracked uncharacteristically. "Or do I end it all right now?"

"How will you account for my death to the admiral?" Pavel turned his head to look back at the captain.

Kirk cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "You're right. I won't." Another crooked grin appeared on his face. "That's it! Maybe we did run into hostiles down here. Maybe there was nothing I could do." He tucked his gun back into his belt and grinned triumphantly. When he turned, Pavel slowly rose to his feet and edged away from the ledge. Kirk was walking away from him as if he hadn't a care in the world. Taking a quick inventory of where the captain kept his gun and communicator, Pavel prepared himself for attack. The moment Jim turned back toward him, Pavel rocketed forward. Jim cried out in surprise as Pavel's shoulder caught him in the stomach and knocked the wind from his lungs.

"Son of a bitch," the captain wheezed from the ground. He struggled against Pavel as the navigator tried to immobilize the older, stronger man.

Sensing that Kirk would soon overtake him, Pavel snatched the communicator from the captain's belt, switched it on, and rolled away. He flipped it open and cried, "Beam us back!"

A phaser blast near his head rendered him deaf and temporarily stunned. That was just enough time for the captain to overpower him. The two struggled on the ground, rolling perilously close to the rim of the canyon.

* * *

Impatient and growing more concerned by the moment, Spock commanded Sulu, Uhura, and Bones to join him in beaming down to the hostile planet to search the old fashioned way.

Cat was anxiously braiding her long hair. She hadn't bothered asking to go, knowing she would be a liability and slow them down. Sitting and waiting helplessly wasn't her top choice, but she knew it was the right one.

"This is not time for being pretty," Jaylah said softly to her. "I do not know what it is that you are doing for." She pulled the doctor's hands away from her hair.

"Oh," Cat shrugged. "I didn't realize I was doing it." Her stomach was churning and heart thumping out of time. She swallowed hard. "It's hard to imagine what could be happening.

"Then don't," Jaylah shrugged. "Imagine about the thing you told me earlier. Think of how happy will be Mr. Chekov when you tell him that you-"

" _Beam us back!"_

Everyone on the bridge froze momentarily. Cat turned her head and swore everyone was reacting to the distressed call in slow motion. Then bodies were running in every direction, finding their stations and preparing to beam the pair back. When a phaser blast emitted from the system, everyone froze once more.

"What was that bang?" Jaylah asked. She looked from face to face to find an answer.

"They're in trouble," Scotty replied before diving back into his search through the screen. "I've been halfway across this continent and I'm just not seeing any sign of life."

Cat pressed her hand to her chest and gasped for air. _If Jim kills Pavel, it will be my fault for causing the jealousy and not making the diagnosis fast enough._

Spock snatched a communicator and spoke into it. "Mr. Chekov, are you and Jim safe?" He waited for a response, exchanged a glance with Uhura, then repeated himself. "Mr. Chekov, are you and the captain safe?"

More silence followed.

* * *

" _No!"_ Kirk hollered. Strength gave him an advantage. He slammed Pavel onto his back, straddled him, and landed a blow in Pavel's gut.

Adrenaline was flowing in Pavel's veins. His limbs shook, his thoughts became frantic, and his strength multiplied. He flipped Kirk off of him. As Jim fell backward, he cried out in shock and instinctively grabbed Pavel's shoulders.

Neither man had realized the edge of the canyon had been inches from where they fought. Their cries echoed as they fell. Then it was silent.


	14. Every Second Counts

"Come in, Mr. Chekov," Spock spoke again after ten minutes of silence from the other end of the communicator.

"Why can't you find them?" Cat worriedly asked Scotty as he continued to scan the planet for Chekov and Captain Kirk. With every second, her desperate hope that Pavel would return to her unscathed wavered.

"I don't know! It's barren. There's no life anywhere. It's a big planet and you can only scan so much area at a time." Scotty wiped sweat from his hairline. "You're making me nervous, lass."

" _Captain Kirk to the Enterprise_!"a voice rang out from the intercom.

The crew let out a collective breath.

"Jim? What's going on?" Spock replied. "Is Mr. Chekov with you? We don't have your coordinates."

" _We ran into hostiles down here. I don't know where we are. This isn't where we were supposed to land_!" The captain's voice was frantic. " _Beam us back!"_

"Jim, we're searching for you. Where are you? There must have been a glitch in the system."

" _I- I don't know. Hurry."  
_

* * *

Blood trickled into Pavel's eyes and dripped from the ends of his curls. Before he even opened his eyes, searing pain split through his skull. A low groan emitted from his throat.

Somewhere near him there was movement. Something was scurrying away from him and upward, but Pavel couldn't open his eyes to see what. Concussed once more, he was fading in and out of consciousness.

" _We ran into hostiles down here. I don't know where we are,"_ he heard a voice from above him some time later.

Finally, he opened his eyes. _Hostiles?_ The speaker was nowhere near him, so he closed his eyes and tried to listen harder. A man was speaking somewhere near him. A man – _Captain Kirk. What is Captain Kirk doing here?_

Pavel groaned in agony and pulled himself into a sitting position, feeling for his gun on his belt. It and his other supplies were gone. Only then did he realize where he was: sitting on a narrow ledge on the side of the canyon. He let out a surprised gasp and scooted closer to the wall. The dusky light was enough to make it hard to keep his eyes open as his head jolted with pain, but he peered over the ledge. One quarter-roll and he'd have fallen further to the bottom of the canyon.

All of his fingers wiggled. So did all of his toes. Though he knew he'd be sore as hell if he made it out of the predicament alive, Pavel sent up a silent prayer of thanks.

 _Why am I here? What happened?_

* * *

If there was one thing Captain James T. Kirk could give Mr. Chekov for, it was breaking his fall. The captain had survived the fall completely unscathed. Now he was jogging away from the crater, putting distance between himself and his fallen navigator. _Kid will be dead in minutes._ _They'll believe it.. They'll believe that the hostiles came,_ he thought on a loop as he moved toward a more barren area.

He chuckled darkly, then cleared his throat. " _Captain Kirk to the Enterprise!"_

When Spock replied, Jim took a deep breath and tried to sound more distressed. "We ran into hostiles down here. I don't know where we are. This isn't where we were supposed to land!" As he spoke, the timbre of his voice changed from concerned to absolutely panicked. "Beam us back!" he yelled.

" _Jim, we're searching for you. Where are you? There must be a glitch in the system."_

Jim threw a glance over his shoulder to make sure Chekov hadn't miraculously gotten up. The kid was likely bled out and dead by now. " _I- I don't know. Hurry,"_ Jim pleaded through a smile. He snapped the device shut. He'd never been a good liar, but this was easy.

When his communicator buzzed again, a low growl sounded from immediately behind the captain. His smile effectively fell away.

* * *

"I've got something, I have something!" Scotty cried.

"Yes!" Cat exclaimed, all but flying from her chair. "Bring them back!"

Scotty squinted at the screen and beckoned for Sulu to come look.

Cat shook her head. "No, no, no. What are you doing? Bring him back! Hurry!"

"That's not Mr. Chekov," Sulu replied. "It's not Captain Kirk, either. They're closing in!"

"Then who is it?" Uhura snapped. "Who's closing in?"

"Hostiles," Scotty and Sulu replied in unison.

* * *

Pavel gingerly felt his scalp. He winced at the gaping wound at the top of his head. _At least Cat can stitch me up._

The thought kick-started his brain. _Captain Kirk. Cat. The diplomacy training mission. The fight._ He looked back up to the top of the canyon. The scuffling he'd heard, he deduced, had been Kirk crawling back up.

Gritting his teeth and trying to blink past the stars in his eyes, Pavel crawled to the a spot in the narrow ledge where it seemed like he'd be able to scale the wall. On an average day he could have scampered up to the top in no time. That wasn't the case today. He squeezed his eyes shut. Blood continued to trickle into his eyes and mouth. Suddenly he leaned forward and retched. The pain in his brain was projecting a zig-zag pattern into his field of vision. He swore in Russian and with his eyes still squeezed shut, carefully reached up to find a foothold.


	15. Truth

"I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise."

The tall beings before him, clad in helmets and jumpsuits, looked to one another and seemed to find amusement in the comment. One of them reached out and clamped an interpreter collar around his neck.

"I'm Captain Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise," he repeated. As his words were translated into the new language, he cringed at the harsh sounding syllables. "I didn't mean to beam down onto your planet. It was a mistake. I'm trying to get in touch with my crew so I can leave."

The shortest of the beings stepped toward him. A second after he spoke in his native language, the collar translated it into English. "Why have you come?"

"I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I'll just be on my way." Kirk reached for the collar, but one of the beings snarled.

"You'll do no such thing. Where's your crew?"

"They're on my ship," Jim replied hesitantly.

The shorter leader turned to the others. "Strip him."

"Please, you don't understand," Jim exclaimed, suddenly genuinely afraid. Turning off his communicator was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake. Everything he'd done in the weeks leading up to this was a mistake.

The aliens stripped off his belt and jacket, tossing them away. The leader growled. "Weapons, communication devices. It doesn't look like you are here by mistake." He turned to his cohorts. "An attack! They mean to attack. This is a scout!"

Kirk held his hands aloft. "You can keep the weapons. If you give me that silver thing, I'll call my crew and I'll be off of your planet. We're here peacefully. An accident. A mistake."

The aliens circled around him menacingly. He was trapped.

Jim looked between the beings and wished he could see past their masks to their faces. He racked his brain and tried to recall whether the Breen would be found in this quadrant of the universe. The trio of guards before him sure seemed to carry their characteristics. They were a no-nonsense warrior culture, and every moment spent in their presence gave him serious worry. "I didn't think the planet was inhabited," Jim answered honestly. "I'm very sorry. If it has been claimed for the Breen, I'll leave." He turned to keep walking, but a hand caught the back of his undershirt.

"No one leaves here alive, including your crew. You'll tell us where they are."

Bones, Spock, and Uhura flashed through the captain's mind. "Never. I won't give you a single one of my crew members." He jutted his chin out in defiance.

The Breen lunged toward him at once. Kirk struggled and fought to no effect. The Breen quickly restrained him and left him laying on the ground as if he'd been a child throwing a tantrum. His arms and feet were bound, and they'd landed several painful blows in his face, stomach, and sides.

Echoes of crumbling rock carried on the stale air to them as Kirk panted and gasped in the dirt.

"What was that sound?" one of the Breen asked. It stared down at Kirk. "Your crew, perhaps?"

"No," Kirk answered quickly. He knew Chekov was likely dead, and the suddenness of that thought shocked him, but the thought of him stumbling into this trap and being tortured was painful to him. _I couldn't have- was that real?_ "No. It's just me. I told you. Maybe some of your cronies are sneaking around." He spat blood into the dirt and cried aloud. "You'll never take my crew!"

The Breen snarled. One knelt down and stuffed a gag into the captain's mouth and snickered in amusement as he yelled into it. The windup gave Kirk a second to prepare him for the impending kick. Several of his ribs broke. Kirk screamed into his gag and lie still as blood saturated the gag in his mouth. _Karma,_ he thought ruefully, _and rightfully so.  
_

* * *

Jose finally rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips "Girl. You've been looking sick all afternoon. What's wrong?"

Emily swallowed hard and shook her head. "Nothing," she replied quickly. She'd been pacing. Biting her nails. Pacing again. As everyone tried to figure out how Captain Kirk and Mr. Chekov had beamed down to a remote area of an unknown planet for a dignitary meeting, the nurse had fretted and weighed her options.

Annoyed with her fidgeting, Jose crossed his arms over his chest. "Please!"

Emily frowned and stared at her shiftmate. "Nothing. It's nothing. Just nervous."

"I've worked with you every day since we came on this ship. This isn't 'nothing.' What's wrong? Are you pregnant?" Jose guessed in jest.

"No." Suddenly all she could think of was the years she and Cat had spent together in classes and in leisure. How many times had Emily gotten a new boyfriend and put Cat on the back burner? Countless. Now the situation had been reversed and she basically asked someone to assassinate the navigator. Jealousy had blinded her, and in a stupid way. Not only would Cat lose her years-long crush finally come to fruition, but also a traitorous best friend. _Maybe the last bit wasn't so bad,_ Emily decided.

Jose sighed. "Em. Then what's wrong?"

"I did something bad," Emily whispered. Her hands began to tremble.

"What'd you do?" Jose asked, his voice now full of apprehension.

"I told Captain Kirk something I shouldn't have."

Jose frowned. "What'd you tell him? That he's been a real jackass? Did you get fired? We dropping you off the next time we're Earthbound?"

"I told a lie that's going to get Commander Chekov killed, if he's not already dead." The words both felt like a crushing pressure relieved from her, and a horrible sentence.

Jose jumped to his feet. "What'd you do that for? What'd you tell him?" His eyes were wide in terror. "They're stranded-"

"I don't think they are," Emily said, her voice a low murmur.

"What do you mean? Of course they are. Haven't you heard the broadcasts every few min-"

The guilt and impending horror finally broke her. "I think the captain is going to murder Chekov, and that _he_ stranded them there to do it. I told him he was abusing Dr. Greenberg. I didn't _know_ he had Lyme disease! Even if I did, I didn't know it could do that to people. I thought he would just order them to stop seeing each other. I didn't know! I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't want anyone to get in trouble." The words peppered out like bullets from a machine gun. "Now he's going to die and it's going to be my fault! Cat's going to kill me. She's loved him forever and it's my fault she's going to be devastated. All because she wasn't paying enough attention to me." She pressed her hand to her forehead. "We can't even do anything about it now."

"You want a bet?" Jose snarled. "We're going to go tell Dr. Greenberg and Dr. McCoy what you've done. Maybe they'll have established contact with him by then. Maybe it's not too late."

* * *

"They're being approached by _hostiles_? Who? This planet was supposed to be friendly," Uhura gasped. She stared at the screen in disbelief. "How could this get any worse?"

"Heavy weaponry, armor. Believe me, it could be worse. A few of them are making contact with Captain Kirk," Sulu answered. "There's a large gathering of them not far away, though."

"Suit up. Prepare to beam down," Spock ordered.

"Where's Mr. Pavel?" Jaylah demanded.

Scotty's face was ashen. "There's a body in the cavern."

Cat's legs gave out from under her and she collapsed into a chair.

"We'll drop down into the middle of them," Spock declared. "We'll take out the three hostiles, then beam up before the others know we are there."

" _Dr. Greenberg!"_

Cat heard the cry from a nurse, but couldn't pull herself to look up.

Spock's eyebrow quirked upward. "Excuse me! You haven't asked permission to approach the brid-"

"Get out of my way!" the tall nurse boomed. "Dr. Greenberg. Have you heard from Mr. Chekov?" Jose gasped when he saw the doctor's face. "No. No. He isn't-?"

"We haven't had contact with him. What can we do for you?" Sulu interrupted.

"Tell them," Jose barked to Emily.

She nodded and stared at the ground before speaking quickly and quietly. "I think the captian is going to kill Mr. Chekov. I told him he was abusing Dr. Greenberg so he wouldn't permit them to spend so much time together," Emily explained fearfully. "This was before I knew what was wrong with him, of course-"

" _What?"_ Cat breathed. "You made up a story that you _knew_ would trigger a phisiologically unstable patient? About _Pavel?!"_ She looked to Jose, hoping the outburst was just a ruse. "Why? Why?"

"Maybe now you can tell him that I was lying. I can tell him myself. I can make it better," Emily pleaded. Turning to Cat, she whimpered, "Cat, I'm sorry - I didn't mean it. I just missed you, and I thought-"

Bones stared at Emily in disbelief. "You're fired. You're fired," he repeated. The scowl on his face told of his urge to physically remove her from the bridge. "I- you're fired. Get out of here!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Emily plead as Jose pulled her back to the med bay.

"Suit up. We're going down _now,"_ Spock called over the new eruption of urgent chatter.

* * *

Chekov took a breath and gritted his teeth again. Even standing was difficult. Now he was scaling a cavern wall. His head felt full and the weight of it messed with his perception.

When he reached the top of the wall, he pulled himself onto the cliff peak and curled into a ball. His hands were covered in the blood he'd been struggling to wipe away from his eyes and nose. Climbing had exerted too much of his energy and caused him to lose more blood through the already flowing wound in his head. He shivered.

Fighting off unconsciousness, Pavel looked across the landscape. Not far away there was a group of people huddled around someone on the ground. "Ze crew," he whispered hopefully before half crawling- half stumbling toward them.

* * *

Kirk watched the aliens as they bowed their heads together and communicated. They were sorting through his supply belt, tossing things aside if they found them useless.

"Nnnnnnngh-"

"Silence," the leader snarled. "Or we'll kill you now."

Kirk laid his head back down and prayed that if Chekov was still alive, he stayed where he was. _Pavel. He's just a kid. What have you done, Jim?_


	16. Sacrifice

Sleep had never seemed more appealing.

The excruciating stabbing sensation in Pavel Chekov's head had turned into full-blown agony. He remembered tumbling down the cliff during a brawl with Captain Kirk, but couldn't remember why they'd been fighting or where they were.

The navigator was currently crawling on his stomach toward a group of beings huddled around a body. Originally he'd hoped they were the crew of the Enterprise, but now he was certain they were not. The one on the floor _had_ to be the captain, but whether that was good or bad, he hadn't the focus to decide.

A large boulder lay ahead, giving cover and a resting spot. Pavel let his eyes close. His face dropped immediately into the dirt. The bleeding had finally stopped, but his feet and arms were numb. Keeping his pained moans from falling from his lips was nearly impossible. But with sleep just an arm's length away he felt better, if not cold.

 _Get up._

Pavel's eyes blinked open once more. _It isn't sleep. It is death._

He peered around the boulder. Though his vision was blurry, he thought he saw a gun lying not far from him. _Hurry. You'll die. Hostiles won't save you, but ze keptain will._ Further away, the hostiles were beating Kirk.

The navigator sighed and rolled onto his side. For the first time in his life, Pavel wished he wasn't a genius. A dumb person wouldn't recognize the signs of death setting in. A dumb person would blindly press forward through the pain, hopping to save the day. Pavel spared a thought for all the things he'd never do. He'd never own a Tribble. He'd never see his children graduate the academy. He'd never hear Cat's accent again, and never see her lovely face. He sighed again. Fate accepted. Blood loss had rendered him useless.

A loud cry echoed across the rocky landscape. Adrenaline began to pound in Pavel's ears and through his skin once more. _Ze keptain! If I will die, I will die trying to do something good._ He staggered to his feet, steadying himself on the boulder. An unpleasant prickling feeling shot through his legs, but he was standing, at least. He unsteadily snatched the phaser from the ground and rose it toward the group attacking his captain. "Stop, please."

The Breen startled at the appearance of the blood-covered human.

"Zat is my keptain. Let him go." He gasped for breath and felt like retching as his heart pounded in his ears. Stars were beginning to shoot across his vision.

Kirk's eyes were wide. "Kkkvvvv!" He struggled against his gag. "Nnnn!" Finally, he shook his head viciously, hoping Chekov would turn and run. He knew the wish was moot. " _Nnnn_!"

"Kill him," the simple command came from the captors, translated through the collar around Kirk's neck.

Pavel raised the phaser. Though his hands were stiff, he managed to pull the trigger. One of the Breen dropped.

The Breen squealed and one charged him, drawing a sword. With another blast from the phaser, it dropped.

The leader tipped his head back and unleashed a roar. The sound split through Pavel's head with the sharpness of a laser. It was too much. Pavel gritted his teeth and cried out. When he opened his eyes, the third Breen was upon him.

* * *

Spock, Uhura, Sulu, Jaylah, and Bones were gathered in the beaming bay. Nervous energy sizzled electric in the air.

"We'll recover Jim and Mr. Chekov, dead or alive," Spock announced. He nodded once at Uhura, who pursed her lips and steeled herself for what was about to happen.

"Remember," Bones interjected, "Jim is still our captain, but he may be beyond reason. He's sick. Pleading with him likely won't work. We want him uninjured, but take every precaution that he doesn't hurt _you."_ He sighed in annoyance.

"Let's _go!"_ Jaylah snapped. "No time to waste!"

"Prepare for combat. Beam us down, Mr. Scott!" Spock ordered.

After exchanging the briefest of glances with Jaylah, Scotty beamed the crew down.

* * *

The third Breen warrior lunged for Pavel, easily knocking into him and falling on top of him. A _thud_ percussed through the ground when they landed. A sickening crunch punctuated the fall.

Jim screamed into his gag. As he did, a snarl and the sound of a phaser firing split his muffled voice.

Tears flowed freely from Captain Kirk's eyes and streaked down his dirty cheeks. _Chekov. Chekov. Oh, god. He was a kid. What have I done? What's wrong with me? Jesus, Jim. Chekov, oh god._ He choked on his own sobs and thrashed on the ground, trying desperately to free himself from his bonds before the Breen rose. _Chekov. I'm coming._ Jim inched toward the pile of bodies. When it didn't move, Jim blinked through his tears in disbelief. A phaser wound was smoldering in the back of the Breen's let his head drop to the ground as a hollowness settled in his chest. As his last act, Chekov had saved him, the man who tried to kill him. Jim wept and didn't notice the thundering footsteps from behind him or the materialization of his crew.


	17. Trauma

Jaylah snapped the bathroom door shut and made herself comfortable on Cat's couch. The turquoise monstrosity had been her bed for the past few nights. The springs had left annoying kinks in her neck that no amount of stretching could fix. Jaylah made a note to draw _herself_ a hot bath next time. She missed Montgomery Scotty and his overprotective nature and bad jokes terribly, but it was obvious that Dr. Cat needed her help more.

It had been a week since the ordeal. Jaylah kicked back and recalled the terrible events. When her feet had touched the ground of that forsaken planet, she'd felt the stampede of hostiles coming long before she saw them. James T. was alive on the ground. Pavel was crushed under a a huge, masked body. Bones and Spock scooped up the captain while she and Uhura had pulled the young Russian free and held fast to him while they beamed back. There hadn't been a second to spare, but the Enterprise crew couldn't have cared less about engaging the approaching enemy. They had their men and were going home.

Pavel was much too light and much too limp. Jaylah had expected to struggle with his weight, but there was nothing. The expression on Nyota's face would forever be burned in Jaylah's memory as they lifted him. "Not Chekov," the tough lieutenant kept whispering, holding his body 's the first time Uhura had cried, and Jaylah decided she wasn't at all fond of that human emotion.

Now she stretched out on Dr. Cat's couch and closed her eyes. Her human friend would soak in the bath for some time to unwind after another day in the med bay. Even after the ordeal, there was no time to take off to regroup. Dr. Greenberg and Dr. McCoy had spent more hours than usual on their feet in the med bay. When Cat did stumble back to her apartment after another long shift, she'd been feverishly working to keep her hands busy before giving up and returning to the med bay. Once she'd caught wind, Jaylah moved herself into the doctor's apartment to force Cat to eat, to bathe, to take care of _herself._

"How's she doing, Lass?" Scotty's voice came through her communicator.

Jaylah picked up. "Tired. Always she is tired."

Scott sighed over the airwaves. "She hasn't slept in a week. Give her a break. I'm sure your being there is helping more than a bit."

"Mmhmm," Jaylah agreed. "I nap now. See you at work tonight, Montgomery Scotty."

* * *

The hot water should have been relaxing, but Cat's mind wouldn't slow down. She scrubbed absent-mindedly at her hands, unable to push away the memory of being drenched in blood up to her elbows.

" _Get to the med bay! Prep for major trauma!"_ Bones had screamed into the communicator from the barren planet a week ago.

Without waiting for them to return, Cat had turned and run for the med bay, paging for all available nurses to report immediately. Her feet carried her as her mind went blank. She refused to acknowledge Jim and Pavel would be her patients. That was one of the blessings her training had given her: the ability to see patients as organisms that needed her assistance and not beings whose lives depended on her.

The landing crew arrived at the med bay before most of the nurses did. Emily, Jose, and Cat dove into action as the bodies hit the beds. Bones stripped off his jacket, let it drop to the floor, and had gloves on in record time. No one cared that Emily had reported back to the med bay after being fired.

As they cut off uniforms and cried out for supplies, neither Cat or Bones looked at the faces of their patients. Though they flicked flashlights across eyes, examined wounds, and barked orders to the nursing staff as they poured through the door, neither doctor _really_ looked at their patients. They couldn't.

"We have internal bleeding," Cat announced as she held a monitor over an abdomen. Several organs were affected and blood was pooling. She palpated the abdomen and shook her head. "No time for scans. We're going in. Scalpel!"

As Jose pressed the instrument into her hand, Cat swiftly slid it along the pale flesh. Blood gushed onto the bed and floor. "Can I get suction over here?" she snapped. As she turned to reach for another instrument, Cat slipped on the bloody tile floor and crashed into Emily. The nurse caught her and quickly stepped to the side. "Get back in here," Cat panted. "Stop the bleeding."

Bones worked quickly over his patient before announcing to the nurses by his side, "He's stable. Look after him – I've got to hop in on this trauma."

As a piece of equipment sounded a tone to indicate a patient had flatlined, a squeak from the side of the room caught Bones' attention. He glanced and found Spock, Uhura, Jaylah, and Sulu were lingering, watching, waiting. "Get out of here" Bones roared. Reluctantly, the group sulked from the room to await news of their captain and navigator.

* * *

Dr. McCoy stretched and settled back in his desk chair. He rubbed his eyes and finished his cup of coffee in one long gulp. He hadn't slept much since they'd beamed back a week ago. Even when he was lying in bed, he couldn't. Words and images played on unwanted repeat. So he stayed at work, only leaving when Spock or Cat forced him to take a walk or get something to eat.

"It's running out of him faster than we can pump it in," Bones had snarled a week ago. "Another unit of A+ blood!"

"There's no more A+ _or_ A-," Jose shouted from the blood cooler.

"Then O+ and O-!" Cat called back. "Hurry!"

Jose snatched the remaining blood bags and quickly replaced the empty one on the stand near the trauma bed. "O+ transfusing."

Both doctors were working feverishly to control the bleeding in the trauma patient they'd just shocked back to life. Just when one vessel was clamped off, it was clear that another was bleeding freely. The heart was jumping spasmodically, but pumping blood out nonetheless.

Emily mopped up the excess blood freely spilling onto the bed and floor, tossing towel after towel into the biohazard bin. Her stomach churned, but not because she was squeamish.

"We're halfway gone," Jose cried warily. "Prepping another bag of O+."

"Already? There's no way," Bones snapped.

"It's empty," Jose replied as he swapped out another blood bag. "It'll all be gone in four minutes at this rate."

Bones looked back to a nurse. "Call every human to the med bay. Screen them. A and O blood types. No viruses. No bloodborne diseases. You know what to look for!"

"It's not going to be fast enough," Cat said seriously. After a moment, she stepped back. "Take over, doctor. You'll have to stop the bleeding. I'm going to transfuse to him." She reached down to strip off her glove and scrub her arm, but hesitated when she realized that her scrubs and coat were drenched in blood.

"Cat, no. We need you to operate," Bones snapped. "Get back in here."

"There's not time to screen anyone and get a blood bag." She glanced up at the rapidly draining blood bag on the pole. "This is the last one."

"All right, fine, but hurry," Bones snapped.

A nurse inserted a needle into Dr. Greenberg's arm and the other into the patient's vein. Blood flowed quickly down the tube and into the bleeding man on the table. Cat reached for an instrument with her free arm.

"Not a chance," Bones snapped. "I'm not going to have you do one-handed surgery and risk nicking something." He stared intensely down into the open abdomen and surveyed the remaining damage. Picking pieces of shattered rib cage from the soft organs, he worked both delicately and aggressively.

Cat mopped up excess blood – her blood – as it slowly seeped out of the patient.

"Pressure's not improving," Jose announced.

"It's flowing right through him, but that's all we need right now," Cat explained. "Once he's stable we'll get that back up. Where are the humans?"

"Here, doctor! We have seven donating into blood bags right now," a nurse replied from the adjoining room.

"I want two bags from each donor," Bones announced. "They aren't going to feel great tomorrow, but it's better than him being dead."

Jose nodded and ran into the other room to relay the order and bring the first of the blood bags back.

When Cat's face had gone pale, Bones reached over and pulled the needle from her arm. "That's enough. You can't drain yourself to save him."


	18. Awake

"You're awake?" Cat exclaimed in surprise. Though distraught, her voice was like a song. "We thought you'd be out until the morning." A smile came to her face. She was expecting to be hauntingly alone in the med bay on her overnight shift after finally convincing Bones to go to sleep. Yet here she was having a conversation.

Captain Kirk nodded a little. "I'm fine." He swallowed, shifted his weight in bed, then looked up. "You can release me. You have better things to be doing than babysitting me. I don't need to be in here." He'd been fairly silent in the week following the ordeal, but now he seemed ready to chat.

Cat sat next to the captain's bed. After all that had happened, Dr. Greenberg still found solace in the diagnosis. Captain Kirk had Lyme Disease. He wasn't a murderer. He was just sick, banged up after his beating, and _that_ was something she could still fix. "You're in shock. You have broken bones, cuts, contusions. You do need to be in here. Plus, we just got results back. You have Lyme Disease. That's what's been causing the outbursts and personality changes. We can get that treated in no time, but I don't want to start that until your body has healed, okay?"

The captain's head dropped back onto the pillow. "You shouldn't have come after me." He rubbed his eyes. "What I did? How could a captain do that to his crew? To his _friend_?" Tears quivered on the rim of his bottom eyelid. Jim blinked them away. "Damn it."

"It was the disease, Jim. That wasn't you." Cat frowned and felt her own eyes get misty. The tears of exhaustion, anxiety, and sorrow had run dry over the last few days, but here they were, back again. "No one thinks you would have-" her voice trailed off. She hastily swatted away a stray tear tracking down her cheek. "Lyme Disease can cause personality changes. With some easy injections, we can kill the bacteria and bring you back. How's that sound? Understand that your thoughts right now are still being affected by-"

"You can't act like it didn't happen, Cat." Jim brought his hand to his face and covered it.

As a silence fell between them, Cat realized how strong the captain had been through his treatment. He had several broken ribs, a shattered wrist and fingers, broken eye socket, concussion, and was scraped up on nearly every inch of his body from the initial beating and being pulled to safety. Though the injuries were enough to make every the strongest crew member whimper, Jim had remained silent and sullen. _Guilt,_ she assumed. "Are you in pain right now?" Cat asked.

"You have no idea," Jim mumbled.

"Here – let me dial up the morphine." Cat reached over to the equipment, but Kirk waved his good arm and shook his head slightly. "Not that kind of pain," he spoke, barely above a whisper.

Cat's breath caught in her chest. "Jim-"

The captain closed his eyes. His voice was soft, but harsh. "You shouldn't have saved me."

The doctor sat and studied his face as he drifted into sleep. Once she was alone again, she bowed her head and wept for all that had happened.

* * *

Pavel opened his eyes. A bright light shone directly into his face. "Ah, nyet," he muttered to himself. _I'm dead._ The whiteness was blinding. He reached out to see if he could feel anything in the strange environment, but his hand waved around aimlessly. Nothing in front of him. Nothing above him. He let his hands drop to the side. One collided with something that sent echoes of metallic clanging through his head, which immediately began pounding.

Suddenly a dark green reptilian head was floating above him. "Hey, man. Glad to see you moving around! That was some crazy shit, huh? Let me go get the doc."

"Doc?" Pavel mumbled in confusion. _Am I not dead?_

A moment later, Bones appeared over the side of the hospital bed. "Geeze, Kid. Welcome back."

Pavel tried to speak. "Ch- chto pro-" The pain pressing on every inch of his body assured him that he was indeed miraculously alive. He groaned and writhed.

"Easy. You had a hell of a time back there. Take it easy." Bones checked the monitors and sighed. "Better, but not great," he mumbled back to Jose. "We're not sure how you made it out there, Kid. You're lucky to be alive. Jim told us everything. You should definitely be dead."

The words were on his tongue, but there didn't seem to be enough strength in his body to force them out. "Ya ne?" he muttered.

"But you're not, so don't get dramatic," Bones scolded. "Jim's under protective watch while we treat him, then we'll reassess. He had a virus in his head. Don't take it personal that he tried to kill you. And pulled you down a cliff. And left you for dead." He hesitated, then shrugged. "Spock's captain until Jim's his old self, then the admiral's getting involved. Everything's going to be okay. Get some more sleep."

"Slova blagodarnosti," Pavel squinted. Suddenly the light was very bright again and the pain was unbearable. Even forming a thought became a challenge. "Ugnnnnn."

"Uh, oh. That's not English. Jose – up the morphine, would you?" Bones reached out and gently pulled Pavel's eyes open before flicking a flashlight beam back and forth across them. "Can you understand my English, Mr. Chekov? You split your skull open and bled a hell of a lot. When that _thing_ fell on you, it broke some ribs, which punctured some organs and severed a lot of blood vessels," Bones continued. "I don't think you have a drop of your own blood in your body anymore." He set the flashlight down and examined the head wound. The notes he scribbled in the file were positive, but Bones frowned anyway.

Chekov was hardly recognizable. Huge bruises settled around his eyes and ears in reaction to the skull trauma. His skin was pasty and his lips were pale, even after the massive blood transfusions they'd given him in hopes of keeping him alive. On an average day McCoy would have joked with Chekov that he looked like a living skeleton. The memories of the operating room were too fresh, and Bones refused to think or joke about it. "You're gonna be okay, Kid," he said again. "Get some sleep. It's the best thing for you."

"Yeah, man," Jose added. "It took us hours to get you stable. You've been out for like a week. You _need_ to sleep."

The doctor squeezed Pavel's arm. "We'll be here."

 _Wait._ Pavel forced his eyes back open. "Gde ona? Gde vrach-"

"English, buddy. I don't speak Russian. Thanks for confirming that second traumatic concussion, though. Patients often revert back to their native language when they've had a brain shake-up." He turned to Jose. "Maybe we'll grab a translator and get it in here in case he has language problems."

Jose nodded and headed to the supply closet.

Chekov squeezed his eyes shut and thought. He'd been speaking English since he was a child, but now the words were just beyond his grasp. "Cat? Gde- where is Cat?"

"There you go, that I can understand," Bones finished. "Dr. Greenberg has been here nonstop. She just stepped out. She'll be right back, Romeo. Get some sleep. Your brain has to rest."

"Mmm," Pavel confirmed before letting his eyes drop close again.

When Jose returned, he raised an eyebrow at the doctor. "Do you really want me to go wake her up?"

"She's been up for like five days. I think she needs the sleep more than she needs to come sit here until he comes to again."

A/N, for you curious minds: As Google tells me, these were the rough translations for the Russian. (Russians, please correct if I'm wrong. I am an American.)  
Ah, nyet"= Oh, no.  
Slova blagodarnosti= Thank you  
Gde ona, gde vrach - Where is she? Where is the doctor?


	19. Reunion

"Dobroe utro."

Cat looked up from her book and smiled. "What?" Her shift had ended a few hours ago, but it was almost morning, so she had curled up with a book next to Pavel's bed.

They were ten days out from the ordeal and he was progressing well in the healing process. Once he'd woken from the initial week-long coma, he'd demanded to get up and moving around. Under the intense monitoring of Dr. Greenberg and Dr. McCoy, he'd pushed himself to the limit in order to get back to work quickly. The bruises on his face were receding and another blood transfusion had given him his color and focus back.

Work and personal time blended into one for the medical team. Both of the doctors remained in the medical bay for days at a time now that Pavel had come to. When Cat wasn't filing paperwork and writing prescriptions, she was helping Pavel get out of bed, monitoring his condition, and reminding him to take it easy, lest risk another week in the med bay.

McCoy had spent more time in the medical bay in that week than he _ever_ had. Now Captain Kirk had been cleared to go back to work, but was still in the med bay for hours a day for infusions to treat his Lyme Disease. The doctors had bonded over their angst over their loved ones; something Cat never would have expected of the cynical older male.

Pavel swallowed and spoke up. "Dobroe utro." He gave a small smile and blinked slowly as his eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lights.

Giving a lopsided frown, Cat shook her head. "That's Russian." She reached for his chart. He hadn't had any language difficulty yesterday. The sudden backslide worried her.

Pavelflashed a cheeky grin. "I know zis is Russian. If I say eet enough, you will learn." He grinned. "Dobroe utro. Good morning."

"That's not funny," Cat scolded. "Language skills are the-"

"Ees just a joke!" Pavel propped himself against the pillows. "I can speak English, yes. And before you ask, yes, my head hurts, no, I don't have double wision. Yes, I would like painkillers. Yes, I know the date." He reached out and took her hand. "You did not sleep, did you?"

"I got in some sleep after my shift." Cat jotted his responses down on his chart.

"Wery unlikely. You're a horrible liar." Pavel squeezed her hand and sat back. "I appreciate it, but you really should take care of yourself. I'll be okay!"

"Pozhaluista," Dr. Greenberg replied before she stood and excused herself to fetch the painkillers.

Pavel's jaw dropped open. "Zat was Russian – right? Cat? Do you speak Russian?" he called after her. He looked for a nurse to confirm that she was speaking Russian and his brain wasn't scrambled.

Cat poked her head back in the room and laughed. "It's Russian. I wasn't sure you'd remember English when you woke up, so I did a little crash course."

Pavel laughed. "Cat! I knew you were ze best decter in the uniwerse."

She clicked her tongue. "It doesn't have anything to do with me being a doctor." She crossed the room, pressed the pills into his hand, and kissed his forehead. "I'd do it even if I was captain."

"Ah." Affection burst into his bloodstream and warmed his body. Pavel wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto the bed. "Govorite so mjob po russki," Pavel spoke slowly. "Speak to me in Russian."

"Menja zovut Cat. Ja iz Minnesota," Cat said slowly. Her lips puckered around the syllables, making sure to perfect each one.

Pavel giggled when Cat's northern America accent exploded on the last word. "Good," he exclaimed, his eyes bright. "What else can you tell me?"

Cat met his eyes. Her blue eyes bore into his hazels for a moment before she blurted, "Ja tebja lublu."

His smile flickered for a moment. "What? Povtorite, pozalujsta. Say that again, please."

Cat's breath caught in her throat. _Did I say it wrong?_ This time, she spoke uncertainly. "Ja tebja lublu?"

Pavel chuckled. "Is zat a question, or do you really loff me?"

"Da," Cat giggled. "Did I say it right?"

"Koshechka maja! My little cat! You said it perfectly." Pavel exclaimed. "Can I tell you a secret?" When Cat cocked her head in curiosity, he continued. "I haff known it for a few days."

"What do you mean?"

"I woke up for a meenute and heard Dr. McCoy trying to get you to go to your apartment and sleep. When I woke up again, you were sleeping in the chair. Dr. McCoy was still on duty. No one sleeps in a hospital room unless they loff somebody."

Cat smiled.

"I would do the same for you," Pavel continued.

A nurse called for a doctor, and Cat reluctantly stood to leave.

"Deceter, wait!" Pavel said quickly before she rushed away.

Cat turned back to him.

Pavel stared at her seriously. "I love you."


	20. Thanksgiving

**A/N: To my American readers- I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!**  
 **Here's a barely-related chapter of fluff, because I'm thankful that you read my nonsense 3**

The cafeteria cart clattered noisily along the hallway. Plates clanked against each other, silverware vibrated and sang out a metallic melody, and one squeaky wheel protested the entire time.

"I don't this this is allowed," Sulu said nervously. He threw a glance over his shoulder.

"Why it is not allowed?" Jaylah asked in annoyance. "So many stupid rules! No shouting in the warp core! No sparring in the hallway!" She rolled her eyes. "Beside, I thought you said this was tradition for your planet?"

"Just for our country," Uhura replied. "For a part of Earth called America."

The crew was creeping down the hallway toward the medical bay with a commandeered cafeteria cart. Uhura had demanded that just because the captain, navigator, and both medical officers were stuck in the medical bay, that didn't mean they couldn't have Thanksgiving. "It's tradition," she's exclaimed. "It's only once a year!" Though Spock initially rejected the idea, one icy glare from the lieutenant had changed his mind. Now the bridge crew hurried through the hallway, hoping to avoid security or the kitchen crew.

Scotty stopped suddenly at a hallway intersection. Jaylah, who was pushing the cart, didn't notice. The cart full of dishes clattered when it collided with Scotty's backside.

"Shhh!" Sulu hissed. He frowned. "This is a terrible idea. Protocol says-"

"Yeah, yeah," Scotty called out. "It's the middle of the afternoon. Who's going to be patrolling the halls? Why do we even need to be sneaky? Isn't this whole thing for Jim?" He snorted. "Come on, lass."

Jaylah shrugged at Sulu, who was still scowling. "If we get trouble, we blame Montgomery Scotty."

* * *

Jim had fallen asleep as medicine pumped into his system through an IV. His treatment for Lyme Disease was fairly easy on his body, but time-consuming. He received infusions several times a week at a few hours a pop.

Bones grinned and sat back. Though he wasn't required to monitor patients receiving that certain therapy, he felt better doing so. "This is how I like him best," he called across the med bay to Dr. Greenberg. "Not coming up with crazy plans or sending me god knows where. I'm a doctor, Cat. You wouldn't believe half the stuff he tries to make me do!"

"Leo," Cat chided.

"Oh, please. When he gives you the conn or sends you out to guard something or to translate a language you don't speak, you'll get it." Bones crossed his arms. "He's sleeping and he's _still_ annoying me." He glared at the sleeping captain.

Cat laughed and turned back to Pavel, who was breezing through his daily barrage of tests.

As he deftly tapped each fingertip to his thumb, Pavel tried not to laugh. "I theenk I'm okay. Really. Zees is silly."

"Gotta do the tests," Cat replied. "Just a few more." She scribbled his results on his chart and sat back. The Russian sighed and continued to perform basic motor skills tests, flying through them with an annoyed sigh.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything," a voice called out.

"What's happening?" Bones snapped. "No, no, no! Why are all of you in here? Is there a gas leak or something? You can't all be sick!"

"No one's sick," Sulu quickly corrected him. "Or hurt. And this wasn't my idea."

"Aye, but he sure had a big hand in it," Scotty laughed.

"None of you could make it to Thanksgiving this year," Uhura sang out, "so we decided to bring it here!"

"Hikaru Sulu says over and over that we'll be in trouble," Jaylah added.

"No trouble," Bones exclaimed. "I owe you a free check-up some time," he called to Sulu. "Excellent! Let's have it, then! Jim, get up. It's Thanksgiving!"

"Oh, good," Sulu blurted in relief. "Because I'm starving!" He quickly moved to uncover the dishes on the tray. The aromas of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, corn, casseroles, pies, and breads immediately began to fill the room. The bridge crew began passing out plates and silverware and excitedly discussing the meal they were about to enjoy.

Sulu put his hands on his hips and beamed. "Let's eat!"

Pavel studied Uhura's expression, reconsidered, then groaned. "I'm out," he conceded, dropping his playing cards into his lap.

She grinned and showed her cards. "Nothing but a big bluff." She slid the pile of poker chips toward her. "Come to mama."

Scotty guffawed and clapped and Spock nodded at his girlfriend. Following a hearty Thanksgiving meal, the crew had put a card table next to Chekov's bed and started a poker game. Jim had eaten silently before excusing himself. Jaylah and Scotty had pulled out the liquor and were treating the evening like a true holiday.

"You are wery sneaky," Pavel mumbled as he counted his remaining chips. "Don't be too proud. My brain is injured."

"Your brain's fine now," Bones replied. He dealt out more cards. "Nice excuse, though."

Pavel grinned and looked over to Cat. "You may haff to lend me some of your cheeps."

"Not a chance, doll," Cat replied.

"That's cold," Uhura sang out. "I love it."

"Well, I love her," Pavel added.

"What?" Uhura exclaimed.

Jaylah raised an eyebrow at her. "You do not know this? It is obvious that he loves her. Where you have been?"

"Atta boy," Bones chuckled. He reached over and clapped him on the shoulder.

Through the outbursts, Pavel only grinned at Cat.

"Happy Thanksgiving," he shrugged.

"I never said that," McCoy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Dr. Greenberg did."

"Cat doesn't get to decide since she's not working today."

Pavel frowned. "I counted down for nothing?"

"Keep pestering me and I'll throw you out of here this morning," Bones growled before taking a seat by the door.

Captain Kirk perched in the chair next to the head of the bed. "I don't know what to-" Jim trailed off and hung his head further, so that it was practically between his knees. "Geeze."

"Keptain?"

Jim looked up. "Not Captain. Not anymore."

"Oh, no," Pavel breathed. "Did ze admiral-"

"No," Jim softly interrupted. "I did. How can anyone trust me? How can I trust myself?"

"Because you're sick." Pavel looked to Bones who

BREEN ATTACK

"Mr. Sulu, get us out of here," Spock commanded calmly.

"You got it," Sulu replied. He turned the ship out of the way of the fire and called out, "Prepare for warp."

Cat stumbled as the ship jerked to the side. "Belt all the patients in," she called to the nurses. As she strapped an Orion girl down, her mind wandered to Pavel on the bridge. _Please, please belt yourself in,_ she tried to telepathically plead with him.

Jose brought in another patient with severe lacerations. "Docs- we've got another one, and probably more coming."

McCoy scowled. "

EMILY SACRIFICE


	21. Flicker

"Hey, Kid. You've got a visitor, if you want to see him." Dr. McCoy wore an expression of uncertainty. He lingered in the doorway to Chekov's room in the med bay. "Jim wants to talk."

Pavel sat up in bed and nodded. "Ze captain?" He tried to smooth his unruly hair. Sleep had left the curls sticking up in all directions.

It had been two weeks since Captain Kirk had tried to kill Chekov in a Lyme disease-induced rage. He'd nearly succeeded. Despite that, the navigator couldn't help but respect the man for who he once was. _Who he would be again,_ he reminded himself. _Who he is still, deep down._ "Aye. Send him in."

Bones nodded to someone in the hallway. Jim entered the room sheepishly with his head hanging low. "Mr. Chekov."

"Keptain. Seet!" Pavel gestured to a chair. "If you had come later, you wouldn't have found me here. I'm getting out today."

"I never said that," McCoy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Dr. Greenberg did," a nurse commented as she passed by.

Bones scowled. "Cat doesn't get to decide since she's not working today. I'm the CMO. My patient. My call."

Pavel frowned. "I counted down for nothing?"

"Keep pestering me and I'll throw you out of here this morning with no pain medication," Bones growled before taking a seat by the door. He was certain Jim wouldn't do anything to the kid, but _just to be sure,_ he reassured himself.

Captain Kirk perched on the chair. His eyes were glued to the floor. He hadn't been this close to the kid since he'd nearly murdered him. "I don't know what to-" Jim trailed off and hung his head further, so that it was practically between his knees. "Geeze." He wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Keptain?"

Jim looked up. "Not Captain. Not anymore."

"Oh, no," Pavel breathed. "Did ze admiral-"

"No," Jim softly interrupted. "I did. Or, I'm going to," he added. "How can anyone trust me? How can I trust myself?" He finally looked up and made eye contact. The face that was usually full of confidence, authority, and occasionally mischief was now uncertain and scared.

"Because you're sick." Pavel looked to Bones. "He's just sick."

"Don't waste your breath," Bones grumbled. "I've already tried."

"Keptain-"

"Jim," he corrected sharply.

Pavel huffed. "Jeem." The name felt strange on his tongue. "You can't give up the Enterprise. We are a family."

Jim stared at the floor, then forced his gaze back to Pavel. "It doesn't matter. Are you okay?" he whispered. "Are you going to be okay? You've been in here for so long."

"Yes!" Pavel exclaimed. "The worst of it happened when the Breen fell on me. Ze only thing you did was give me a black eye." He grinned, but quickly stopped when the captain sighed in anguish. "Keptain."

" _Jim."_

"Keptain," Pavel repeated. "You were sick. Both dectors say so! I forgeeve you."

"Chekov," Jim said in disbelief. "What? How can you-?"

"Because you're my keptain. Because I'm fine. Because Cat forgeeves you. Because we need you to get better and stay with us." He shrugged. The time in the medical bay had given him plenty of time to reflect on his relationship with Cat, how it had been affected by Jim, and the captain's transformation into the rage monster he'd recently been. "If you leave, I will leave."

"You can't! There's never going to be another navigator like you," Jim said in shock. "What would we do without you?"

"That's how they feel about you," Pavel exclaimed. "Keptain, you're getting better."

Jim sat back and couldn't help but grin. This wasn't the first time the Russian whiz kid had bested him. "I am. But I remember how I thought. It scares me. It wasn't me, but I was still thinking those things. _Doing_ those things. Hurting people. My crew. My _friends."_ Jim looked away in disgust. "Mr. Chekov, I won't ever be able to make it up to you."

"You don't need to."

"I do."

"There is nothing to-"

Jim stood abruptly. "I won't allow you to forgive me this easily."

Pavel raised his voice to match the captain's. "It is not your decision!"

"You idiots are shouting about being on good terms, you realize that?" Bones interrupted. "Chekov. Jim's sorry. Jim. Chekov forgives you. I don't know what more you want. Kiss and make up already."

Chekov stuck out a hand. "Keptain."

As soon as Jim took and shook it, the lights flickered and ship shuddered.

"What in the hell was that?" Bones groaned.

"We're under fire," Jim exclaimed. He whipped out his communicator. "All hands to battle stations!"


	22. Redemption

Metallic bangs and shouts sounded throughout the U.S.S. Enterprise as she was fired upon. Sparks exploded from breakers, engineers and nurses scurried about in a frenzy, and Jim Kirk sprinted toward the bridge. Though he hadn't received medical _or_ administrative permission to return to his post, he knew it was the best choice in the moment.

On the bridge, the crew was calm enough on the surface to be able to function.

"Mr. Sulu, get us out of here," Spock commanded plainly.

"You got it," Sulu replied. He whipped the ship out of the way of the most damaging incoming fire and called out, "Prepare for warp." Before he could engage, another blast rocked the ship. Alarms rang out from somewhere.

"Where are they coming from?" Uhura exclaimed. She peered out into space and gasped aloud upon seeing a fleet of small enemy craft surrounding them. "We're going to lose warp."

"We've lost warp," Sulu grumbled.

Captain Kirk's footfalls preceded him and everyone immediately recognized the pattern. "Captain on the bridge," Sulu called out as Jim thundered toward his chair.

"What's the status of the ship?" the captain exclaimed.

Uhura frowned. "It's not good." She watched the monitors as more and more areas of the ship began to blink red. "We should still be able to get out of here, though."

"Working on it," Sulu grunted as he attempted to maneuver away from the incoming fire.

Spock raised an eyebrow in thought. "Jim, could this be retaliation from the Breen? Mr. Chekov did kill three of their men."

"Why aren't the shields up?" Jim barked.

"We lost them mid-activation," Sulu replied quickly as he scoured the area for an exit. "We're surrounded."

Spock tapped Jim on the shoulder. "These are likely Breen. Captain, we should engage them. Their race is not known for taking prisoners or hostages. The only logical course of action is to fight back."

"You think?" Jim snapped. "If shields are down and we're sitting here like a fish in a barrel, we're going to have to fire."

* * *

In the medical bay, Bones and Pavel stared at each other in wonder as nurses stocked supplies.

"Who in the hell would be firing at us in this part of the quadrant?" Bones rolled his eyes. "They'll get the shields up and warp us out of here in a minute." When another explosion somewhere above them rumbled, he cleared his throat. "Any time now."

"Perheps I should-"

"Sorry, Kid. You're staying here. I'm not going to have a brain injury patient running through the halls with she ship jerking all over. Do me a favor and make it a priority to _not_ smack your head into anything from now on, all right?" Bones whipped out his communicator. "Hey, Cat? We'll probably have some incoming patients. You want to come back me up?"

"Already here," Cat announced just as she walked through the med bay door. "This doesn't feel like the odd bomb from a confused native species." The ship jerked once more and she stumbled. Her coffee sloshed out of its cup and down her white coat. "Typical," she grumbled.

"I'm geetting a second opinion," Pavel said apologetically to Dr. McCoy. "Cat, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to go back to ze bridge to see if I can-"

"I see plenty of reasons," Cat said. "You've still got staples holding your scalp together and stitches holding your guts in. Sorry, doll. We'd hold anyone here if they were in your condition."

"Condition?" Pavel exclaimed. "You said I could be discharged today! Zees is important!"

Cat gave him a lopsided smile. "Ah, discharged to your own apartment where I'd continue to monitor you. You won't be clear to work for another week. Get comfortable. You're staying here."

Pavel sighed and dropped back against his pillows dramatically. "Can I at least help out here?"

"With no medical training?" Bones scoffed. "I don't think so."

* * *

Jim paced back and forth as the Enterprise continued to take incoming fire. The ship's guns were firing at full power, but there were too many enemy craft, and they were too small and agile, to effectively slow down. "How are things looking down there, Mr. Scott?" Jim asked into the communicator.

Scotty's reply was full of anguish. "Bad, Captain! We're losing systems left and right. At this rate they're going to blow a hole through the ship!"

"Many, many holes," Jaylah's voice added.

"Are those two always together?" Sulu asked, a hint of humor in his voice.

Jim pursed his lips. "We're doing all we can here. What can you do there?" He stared at his communicator expectantly. When silence came, he sighed and plopped into his chair. "Son of a bitch," he mumbled under his breath as he massaged his temples. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Lt. Uhura watching him. "I'm okay," he said softly. He held up his hands. "I'm okay. It's just a stressful situation."

The woman nodded. "Good, Captain."

"You know any Breen?" Jim asked her. "I'm out of ideas, here."

"So you _do_ think they're Breen," Spock interjected.

" _Yes,_ " Jim answered. "They thought I was a scout and that we were going to attack or claim the planet. I don't know why they chased us out here."

"Killing three of their men on a neutral planet is still an act of war," Spock replied matter-of-factly.

"Shit," Jim muttered. "I screwed up big time."

"You didn't kill anyone," Spock replied. He ignored Uhura's glare.

"No, but I tried." As the ship shook again, Jim shrugged. "This is my fault. I was sick and tried to kill Mr. Chekov, got myself in trouble, and he saved me. If we lose anyone today, their blood will be on my hands." He steeled himself. "We've lost warp, the shields, and what else? Prepare for hand-to-hand combat."

* * *

The redshirts started trickling in first with various burns and traumas. Pavel watched in morbid interest as the doctors tore open uniforms, stopped bleeding, and stitched skin and scale back together. A few of the patients remained in the beds, but most and hurried back out to repair damages as they were happening. A few of the injuries were gruesome enough that he turned away and instead focused on the complete feeling of serenity shared among the nurses. No one panicked. No one grimaced at the gore. No one stepped away.

"I can help," he called out. "I can hand you supplies. I can do something."

Jose grinned and smacked him in the shoulder. "Nah, man. This one's above your pay scale." He laughed and smacked him again. "Just messin'. But really, protocol says no one can treat patients in the med bay except for those who have gone through the medical academy unless it's a _real_ bad situation."

"Well, I was an engineer once without knowing anything about it," Pavel grumbled.

Jose snorted and turned back to the lobby to usher in another patient, his long green tail flicking excitedly.

Chekov turned his attention to Dr. Greenberg. Her beautiful face, usually laughing with eyes sparkling, was very serious. He wondered if he'd every seen anyone more focused. Against his better judgment, he wondered if that was the expression she'd worn when Cat had operated on him. Pavel sighed. Bones had told him that Cat had inserted a needle into her own arm and directed her blood into his veins as she operated. The story had surprised him, but now upon watching her, he changed his mind. Perhaps she'd have done it for any of them. The thought made him proud.

* * *

"Montgomery!" Jaylah screamed as another blast rocked the equipment bay they were in and tore a hole in the ship.

"Hang on, Lass," Scotty called as he locked his arm around hers and pulled her away from the vacuum that had been created. "I've got you. I've got you." Just as he pulled her to the safety of an adjacent room, a small alien craft crashed through the tiny hole, bursting into the interior of the ship.

"We've got hostiles on board!" Scotty yelled into the communicator as he pulled Jaylah down the hall with him.

"We stay and fight!" Jaylah snarled, reaching for her gun.

"We run until we know what we're dealing with!" Scotty corrected her.

* * *

"We need a tourniquet!" Cat called to a nurse. As soon as it was pressed into her hand, the doctor was deftly placing it around a crushed arm.

The work conditions had gotten poorer. Constant blasts were rocking the Enterprise. Alarms flashed and blared. Everyone seemed to be converging on the medical bay. Pavel watched in horror, tried to help, and was repeatedly ordered to get back in bed and stay out of the way. He was trying to contact the bridge crew with his communicator when Emily slowly crept into the bay. "Hey," he called angrily. "Get out of here! You're supposed to be in confinement!" If it hadn't been for the conniving nurse, he thought bitterly, he wouldn't have been half dead and drained of his own blood.

"The cells were blasted open," Emily said plainly. She studied Chekov with a sad curiosity before shaking her head. "I have to do something. I have to help."

Bones had been working on a patient nearby. "Then get in here and help," he snapped.

The nurse put her head down and worked diligently, trying but failing to ignore the angry scowls of the medical team and patients alike.

An explosion nearby sent shockwaves through the bay. Instruments clattered off trays, patients groaned, and doctors skidded on the floor.

"That's getting a little close for comfort," Bones growled.

"Not a lot we can do about it, Doc," a nurse replied. "Besides-"

A second explosion struck the bay. A flash of light, barrage of sounds, and plume of smoke shot through the med bay, sending beds and bodies flying. Then the commotion settled, Cat looked up from where she'd landed on the floor and gasped. A partially collapsed wall was teetering; on the verge of coming down on top of two hospital beds. The patients strapped to them were too injured to move, but screamed in terror.

"Get out of there!" Bones hollered. He shoved equipment off of his legs and tried to free himself to get to the patients.

The wall began to crumble. It seemed like slow motion. A nurse standing closest to the beds ran for them.

"No!" Cat cried as the wall creaked.

Sparks showered down as the nurse pulled the first bed out of the way. She gave it a mighty shove and got the patient into a clearing.

Pavel watched in horror as the nurse turned back for the second patient. His dread turned to surprise as he glimpsed the determined face of the nurse. It was Emily. "Emily!" he called. "No!"

The wall came down with a crash just as Emily pushed the second stretcher out of the way. When the dust settled, only Emily's outstretched arms were visible among the shattered wall panels and wiring.

"Get her out of there," Cat panted. "Get her out." She wiped soot from her eyes. When she looked back again, Emily's lifeless body was on the floor. Nurses were gathered around her, shaking their heads sadly.

"Well, shit," Bones breathed.


	23. Battle

The medical crew desperately tried to right stretchers and move patients into the hallway. An explosion had blasted through the med bay; a wall had collapsed and killed Emily as she saved the immobile patients in danger's way. Now blasts continued to rock the ship. Dust and debris rained down onto the team and patients, casting everyone in a grey shade.

"I have to go. I have to go." Pavel stumbled toward where Cat was bent over a patient. "Cat. I have to go."

She looked up and nodded. "Okay." She briefly grasped his hand and looked into his eyes. "Pavel, I-"

"No goodbyes," Pavel interrupted. The concerned look on her face broke his heart, but he pushed himself forward. "I will see you when this is over. I love you." He pressed his lips to her forehead and turned away quickly.

His head spun and stitches protested as he navigated the hallway to the bridge. Several passageways were collapsed. Others were burning. More than once he knelt to assist a crew member on the ground, but found they were dead. When he finally burst onto the bridge, the chatter alarmed him.

"Enemies on board," a voice came crackling over the communicators.

"Enemies on board?" Jim repeated in a deadpan voice.

"Enemies on board," Sulu confirmed. "Orders, captain?"

"Get us out of here. Mr. Spock, you have the conn. No one boards my ship and kills my crew without answering to me, personally." Jim rose from his chair, checked that his gun was on his belt, and turned to leave. "Mr. Chekov," he exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He looked Pavel up and down. "Are you all right?"

"Zere was an explosion in ze med bay. One of ze nurses died," he explained quickly. "Enemies on board, Sir? I didn't see any on my way here. Zere were several more dead crew members, but I didn't see any-"

"Mr. Chekov, are you all right?" Jim interrupted. "Are you okay to be here?"

"Aye," Pavel nodded. "I'm where I need to be, Captain."

Jim nodded and gingerly laid his hand on the man's shoulder. "We need you. I'm glad you're here. Mr. Spock is in charge. Get us out of here, Mr. Chekov." He nodded before heading out.

Pavel nodded and watched the captain out of sight. _Everything's back to normal,_ he thought thankfully. As he collapsed into his chair, he looked to Spock. "What is ze plan?"

"You heard him: to get the hell out of here," Uhura replied. "Glad you're back. Now get us on a course to shake these things."

"Who are zey?" Pavel asked as he dialed up his screen and analyzed the situation.

"Breen," Spock replied. "The very group that nearly killed you."

"Great," Pavel mumbled. His stomach tied itself in a knot. The Breen were relentless killers. If they were on the Enterprise, his friends were in death's grasp. "Why haven't we warped out of here?"

"No warp," Sulu grumbled. "You think we wouldn't have tried that? We were firing until a blast took out the guns."

Pavel nodded and followed the enemy movements. "Zey have no pattern." Small ships darted in and out with seemingly no rhyme or reason; yet they never collided. "Zere _must_ be, though." He closed his eyes and tried to recall a calculation. His eyes had began to ache, but he pushed the annoying throbbing away and concentrated harder.

Sulu watched the navigator. "I'm glad you're back, but hurry up. We need coordinates. We need a plan. I can fly this thing, but we can't go through the thick of them."

The blasts were coming so frequently that the Enterprise seemed to be constantly vibrating. Screams and footfalls echoed through the hallways. Every life on board was now counting on the bridge crew.

Pavel groaned and looked back at the screen. "Is not random. Is something. Is something." He squinted and watched an individual ship's path. It looped back and forth, firing at the Enterprise, then doubling back before closing back in again. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and followed another ship's path. It clicked. " _I haff it!"_ He exclaimed. "Each individual sheep is flying in the Fibonacci sequence. Zat is why zey do not crash. It is not random! Barely missing each other, but timed their spirals out."

"Excellent. Find us a gap to escape, Mr. Chekov," Spock replied calmly.

Chekov quickly whizzed through calculations and projections. "Set course! Coordinates are set. On my mark."

Sulu waited.

Chekov's heart felt like it was beating in the back of his mouth. "No pressure," he reminded himself aloud. "Okay. On my mark. Wait. Wait. Wait." As their way opened, he called out. " _Now!"  
_

* * *

It took all of Cat's concentration and willpower to keep her eyes trained on the patient on the table. Emily's body had been covered with a sheet. She'd seen dozens of bodies under sheets during attacks or in the aftermath of disasters, but this time felt different.

Footsteps pounding the hall caught her attention. Again, Cat refused to look up from her patient.

" _Cat!"_ Dr. McCoy's sharp yell rang out.

Cat looked up just in time to dive as a laser blast zipped through the air. "What the-?" she breathed. Still crouching, she peered past the legs and hospital beds to see an alien figure marching through the med bay, firing randomly. Nurses fell and patients rolled off of their beds. "Shit, shit, shit," Cat whispered as she looked around for a weapon. The medical bay had a few phasers stashed away, but not anywhere convenient. _My patients. No one kills a patient in my bay._

 _Clang, clang, clang._ "Hey, over here!" Bones called, pounding his hand against a metal cabinet. "Get out of my bay, jackass."

Cat took the moment to sprint for a storage closet where she'd last seen the weapons. In her mad dash, she knocked into an instrument tray, sending the metal tools clattering across the floor. The Breen turned back and raised the gun toward her once more. Cat froze as she debated ducking, running, or fighting.

" _No!"_ Captain Kirk burst heroically through the door in the nick of time. His arms extended as he launched himself toward the invader. The two clattered to the ground with a mighty _thud._

Cat shook off her disbelief and wrenched open the closet door and stepped inside, searching frantically for a gun. A phaser blast sounded and she felt herself cry out. _Not Jim. Not Dr. McCoy. Not my patients. Not again._ The cool black metal of the phaser found her hand at last. She flipped it on and stepped back into the bay. With one steady shot, she dropped the invader in its tracks. The guilt she thought would immediately wash over her didn't come. She'd taken an enemy life and felt nothing. "Jim?" she cried out. "Leo- there you are. Is Jim-?"

"I'm fine," Jim's stifled voice came. He rolled out from under the Breen's body and headed for the door. "Barricade yourselves in here until we clear the ship." The captain gave a sharp nod to Cat. "We're not losing anyone else. Set your phaser to kill."

"Jim, how many are there?" Cat asked. "I'll come with you."

"You'll stay here. There are going to be more injured when we get this all shut down. Chekov's finding us a path out of here. We're gonna make it through." Captain Kirk nodded. "All right. Stay safe."

* * *

"Well done, Mr. Chekov," Spock nodded. "It was such an obvious sequence. I don't know why none of us saw it."

Pavel sat back in his chair and sighed. "Course is set. We cannot outrun zem, but we can get away from zem long enough zat zey'll hawe to reconfigure their formation."

"Warp's back up!" a voice in the communicator came.

"Zat's conwenient," Chekov mused.

"Mr. Scott, I thought the warp core was overrun with invaders?" Spock replied.

"Jaylah fought them off and piled their bodies out near the trash compactor. The lass is good at everything you put in front of her. Anyway, warp's back!" Scotty chirped cheerfully.

Spock's lips twitched slightly upward. "Mr. Sulu, get us out of here."


	24. Itinerary

Jim looked from face to face at the crowd of crew members before him. A few months had passed since their run in with the Breen. The crew of the Enterprise had been able to hobble the ship back to a station for repairs. Now, the captain had gathered his crew together and was addressing them formally for the last time of their five-year mission. "The Admiral assigned us another voyage – three years this time. We headed north last time – now we're taking it three years in the other direction." He paused and scanned the faces of his friends again. No one's faces betrayed their thoughts. "If you're not interested, we can transfer you to another ship that's not out so long. I'd be sad to see anyone go, but listen, I'd definitely get it." When no one moved, he chuckled. "That's why I love this crew. Take a month. Go to your home planet. See your friends and family. It's a paid leave." When a small bout of applause broke out, he grinned. "Yeah! You deserve it. Every one of you. It's been a hard few months for all of us. Report back next month on the 15th and we'll hit it hard again. Enjoy. You know how to reach me if something comes up or if you change your minds." He ignored the applause and strode through the crew, being hugged and clapped on the back by multiple members.

When he passed Cat, she caught his wrist. "Jim."

"Hey, guys," he greeted her and Chekov. "Enjoy the break. You need it. Recover. Get better." He nodded seriously to Pavel, who nodded back.

"Is it true?" Cat whispered. The chatter of the dispersing crew was loud enough to give her cover, but she still worried that the rumors would start if she was heard. "Are you leaving?"

Pavel watched Jim and awaited his answer. He'd revealed to Cat that Jim planned to resign his captainship over what had happened between them.

Jim sighed. "I'm speaking with the admiral this afternoon, actually."

"You don't have to do that," Cat said. "Both Leo and I strongly believe that it was -"

"I know," Jim interrupted. "I do. I know. But come on. That can't happen again. I can't let that happen again. Not to one my of crew members, not to a dignitary, not to anyone. I almost _killed_ Chekov!" He scowled and glared at her boots. "There's _no_ excuse."

"It won't happen again, Keptain," Pavel butted in. "It will not happen again. You are better now." He gave Jim a hard look and realized how strongly he felt. His loyalty had been tested and indeed broken along with his body, but Pavel still believed in Captain Kirk. "You cannot leave, Keptain. If you leave, I leave."

Jim sighed. "It might not be up to me. It all depends on what the admiral says." He gave a fake smile. "Go. Get off this ship. Enjoy yourselves on Earth."

"We will see you in a month," Pavel said. "We will!"

"Yeah, maybe," Jim shrugged.

"We will," Cat snapped. "I've already given my professional opinion at the admiral's request. You're going to be stuck with us. If you leave, it'll be on your own accord."

Jim grinned. "You've always been crafty. Mr. Chekov – watch out for this one." He laughed then turned away. "See you in a month."

Pavel absentmindedly massaged Cat's neck as he watched the crowd slowly disappear after saying good-byes. "He will take some time off and feel better. You'll be going to Minnesota, zen, yeah?" He tried to look unaffected, predicting she'd say yes. "Of course you are. It'll be nice. I'm sure it has been stressful for you, all of zese attacks and surgeries and handsome patients." He grinned.

"Yeah, Jim's all right-looking." Cat winked and turned back for her apartment.

"Hey!" Pavel exclaimed indignantly as he hurried after her. His ribs and skull had healed and he felt every bit as healthy as he had months ago. Cat had taken phenomenal care of him; scolding him when he overdid or didn't do his exercises and reassuring him when Pavel swore his recovery had come to a halt. He paused and watched her walk away from him. A lopsided smile formed on his face. _Zat woman._

"Packing time," Cat called over her shoulder. "Grab your bag and meet me at my place. Half your stuff is in my apartment anyway."

"Okay. What do you want from my room? I'll breeng it to you."

Cat paused and spun around slowly. "Oh, this sexy little thing I like to use in my spare time."

"And what's zat?" Pavel asked in confusion.

When he reached her, Cat pressed her lips to his and squeezed the firm muscles of his ass. "You."

* * *

An hour later, Cat was lounging on Pavel's bed, her neat braids now frizzy and coming undone. She sighed happily and stretched. Sex had been slow and tender during Pavel's recovery, but this afternoon saw all restrictions ripped away. Now, watching Pavel battle sleep, Cat grinned and wished she could stop time.

"A month is long time," Pavel mumbled, his accent thick with exhaustion. He rolled over, kissed her neck and traced the black tattoo on her ribs. "Too long." Her skin was warm on his fingers as he lazily dragged them down her side. The very fresh memory of Cat sinking her nails into his back and teeth into his skin summoned goosebumps.

"Too long for what?" Cat asked innocently. She liked the way he watched her, even through his half-lidded eyes. Moments ago his gaze had been fiery and full of passion, a big contrast to the sweet, affectionate look he was now casting upon her. With the ship emptying out, they hadn't bothered to keep their voices down. Pavel had moaned aloud and cried out in pleasure as Cat rolled her hips from atop him. She'd ridden him hard; finally pleased enough in his recovery that she could focus on her body's needs. His strength had certainly returned; in a swift move Pavel had slammed Cat onto her back and aggressively plowed her until they both trembled, laughed breathlessly, and collapsed where they now lie. "Too long without me in your bed?"

"Not _zat_ ," Pavel scoffed. Though she wasn't wrong, he continued. "I won't see you for a month. Thirty days." He pulled her closer and smiled fondly when she nestled against him. "Since I met you, I think we have only gone two days without seeing each other." He kissed her behind the ear. "Will you miss me?" He nipped at her ear playfully.

"What do you mean?" Cat played dumb again.

Pavel snorted. "As professional nawigator, I feel it's my duty to tell you zat Minnesota and Russia are on opposite sides of ze earth. Is not like we will meet for dinner. You'll call me when you haff time, won't you? Please?"

"Oh!" Cat exclaimed in mock-surprise. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Tell me?" Pavel propped himself up.

"I wasn't planning to go to Minnesota, actually." She shrugged. "I'm open to suggestions. Maybe I could go to a beach somewhere. Or on one of those cruises." After a moment of watching Pavel's pained expression, she laughed. "Or to Russia."

"You want- really?" Pavel grinned and dragged her into an especially intimate hug on top of him. "You'll come with me? To Russia? For a month?" He kissed her. "I was worried you would not want to come! You will _love_ it. My family will be so excited to meet you! And Russia has so many beautiful places, and still does the traditions, like the ballet, and the Christmas lights around town squares!" He was smiling like a maniac. "You'll come, really? What about Minnesota?"

"Really," Cat giggled. "My family's gone, friends spread all over the galaxy." She rolled back onto her side of the bed. "When do we leave?"

"Soon! Cat! I'm so excited!" He grinned like he'd won the lottery, which in honesty, he felt like he had.


	25. Motherland

The sharp Russian air made Cat's eyes water the moment she stepped off the plane. It had been years since she'd felt the Earth's air. Even as it stung her cheeks and made her shiver, she inhaled and smiled in nostalgic joy.

"Ah, ze homeland," Pavel sighed happily. "Zere's nothing like fresh air after being in ze starsheep for half a decade." A strong gust flipped his scarf into his face. "Yeah, even zat."

"Pavel!" a sing-song voice came.

Cat grinned and immediately spotted the Chekov parents. A petite woman with silver hair twisted back into an updo stood beside a hulk of a man whose stern expression was negated by his mop of unruly curls.

"We're here!" Pavel exclaimed, jogging down the ramp and throwing his arms around his mother. "Is good to see you!" He turned to his father, who stuck out a hand. They exchanged a hearty handshake. Pavel turned back to Cat. "Zese are my parents: Lidiya and Andrei."

Andrei crossed his arms and looked down at his son. It wasn't a disrespectful action, but rather the result of him being such a large man. "You bring girlfriend? Who is zis? Wait- is Irina, no? Has been long time." He then began speaking quickly in Russian.

Cat shook her head. "No, I-"

" _No,"_ Pavel groaned. "Zis is Dr. Greenberg." If the wind hadn't turned his cheeks a brilliant red, he'd have blushed that color anyway. He glanced nervously at Cat, but relaxed when she wrinkled her nose at him playfully.

His mother gasped and clasped her hand over her breasts. "A decter? Pavel, you say _nothing_ about traweling with a decter. How bad are you hurt zat you must come with decter?" She turned to Dr. Greenberg. "Please, decter, tell me. How serious ees eet? He tells me nothing on phone, and ees so hard to tell-"

" _No!"_ Pavel exclaimed before Cat could answer. "Yes, Dr. Greenberg is ze Enterprise's medical officer. But zat's not why she's here. She is-"

Andrei nodded and nudged his wife. "Is Irina. Told you. Hair ees different. Zat's all."

"No, no, argh," Pavel turned to Cat and laughed sheepishly. "Zat's a long story. Forgive him- my father doesn't speak ze best English."

"My English is fine," Andrei scoffed.

Cat laughed aloud, enjoying the exchange. It had been years since her parents had passed. Watching Pavel's exasperation was endearing and reminded her of what it was like to have those family connections. Her heart ached and warmed at the same time.

"Zis girl is probably sorry to be here!" Lidiya exclaimed. "My son – he ees just a dumb man sometimes. Forgeeve him."

"He's a fine man," Cat replied with a smile. "I've had plenty of time to get to know him on the Enterprise."

"American!" Andrei exclaimed. "Good, good." He nodded his approval. "Zis _ees_ different girl. Good. Irinia ees no good, anyway. Decter Greenberg. Welcome to Russia." He stooped and kissed her hand. "Wery sorry for call you Irina. Ees good to meet you."

"Ah, Papa, geeze," Pavel grumbled as Lidiya rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Thank you," Cat giggled. "But please, call me Cat."

"Cat ees my girlfriend," Pavel added quickly. "For some time, now." He gestured toward her. " _And_ she is ze one who operated on me after ze accident. I would not be here without her."

"Took you long enough to speet out," Lidiya scoffed. "Why you do not mention zis? You bring horrible Irina back from academy, but say nothing to us about seeing a decter." She smiled widely. "Dr. Greenberg, Cat, you look so young! You are decter? You must be wery intelligent."

Cat nodded. "I skipped several grades and tested out early. Even with clinicals, I graduated years ahead of schedule and began practicing."

"Perfect. My sons – zey are all wery smart. About time zey find smart women." Lidiya smacked Andrei in the chest. "Isn't zat right?"

"Mmhmm," Andrei agreed.

"So who's this Irina?" Cat asked to break the silence. When Pavel stumbled over his words in an attempt to find an answer, Cat laughed. "Just joking."

Lidiya beamed. "I like her."

* * *

The Chekov house was quaint and everything Cat expected. It sat in a residential neighborhood full of other little cheery houses. "This is lovely," she commented.

"Lidiya, she does good job," Andrei replied. He'd insisted upon taking both her and Pavel's bags; easily hoisting them up, one balancing on his shoulder and the other swinging easily from his hand. The more Cat looked at him, the less intimidating he looked. Pavel had clearly inherited the mischievous glint in his eye from his father.

"Zere is a surprise for you inside," Lidiya announced as she strode up the front steps.

"Mama," Pavel scolded her. "We don't need any surprises. We're just here to see you."

"I knew zis is what you wanted. Zat's why your brothers got time off work to come home for your break," Lidiya sang out as she threw open the front door.

Pavel grinned and ducked inside.

A tall, more slender version of Pavel was stretched across the couch, his bespectacled eyes peering intently into a book. On the floor, another brother was tinkering with a piece of machinery. When Pavel burst in, they set down their items and joined in a group hug, greeting each other in Russian. Cat marveled at the brothers' similarities. If she hadn't known Pavel to be the youngest, she'd have guessed Alexei was his twin. Besides his glasses, the taller brother's only difference was his dark hair.

Lidiya nodded toward the tall brother. "Zat is Sasha. Ze other is Alexei," Lidiya introduced him. When neither pulled away from Pavel, she scoffed. "How rude you both are! Say hello!"

"Hello," Sasha replied in a deep voice that surprised Cat. He turned and pulled Cat into a hug. She seemed to disappear in the embrace of his long arms.

"Zis is Dr. Greenberg," Pavel announced proudly. "Cat."

"Ah, ze beautiful young decter you haff told about?" Alexei mused, his accent slightly thicker than Pavel's. "So you were not making zis up?" He laughed and turned to Cat. "He is not paying you to pretend you are his girlfriend?" He grinned and kissed her hand. "Pleasure."

"Sure, he tells you zese things and not his mother!" Lidiya complained in faux annoyance.

"Pavel has not always dated ze most academically proficient women," Alexei explained to Cat with a snarky smile. "So we assumed he made you up. How conwenient – a genius woman his age, on his sheep? You can see our doubt."

"Was too good to be true," Sasha rumbled. "Are you _sure_ he ees not paying you to be here?"

"I miss you, zen I come here and remember zat I shouldn't," Pavel grumbled.

Sasha immediately pulled him into a headlock and mussed up Pavel's hair. "Say you loff me and zat I'm your favorite brother."

"Shut up." Pavel struggled against the hold. "I am a member of ze starfleet! Let me go."

"You're my little brother. Say eet."

"Not in front of Cat!"

Sasha rubbed Pavel's hair harder, turning the curls into frizz. "Even a decter can't save you now."

Alexei grinned at Cat. "Still standing by your story? You _really_ picked zis one?"

"Zis is a family full of cynics, I am afraid," Lidiya laughed. "I am sorry, Decter Greenberg."

"Cat, please!" she laughed. "Call me Cat. I'm only Dr. Greenberg when I'm on the Enterprise."

"I think I leave zem to argue," Lidiya shrugged. "I make coffee, if you are thirsty." She turned and headed into the kitchen.

Cat followed and sat down at the large kitchen table. "Please." She couldn't help but grin at the brothers as they continued to argue and wrestle; their English breaking with Russian words, and finally tumbling into full-brown Russian.

"How did Pavel talk you into coming to zis frozen country?" Lidiya asked over the voices from the living room as she moved gracefully about the kitchen.

Her moves reminded Cat of a ballerina. After watching for a moment longer, she smiled and shrugged. "I'm from northern America. It's not much warmer. I've seen Pavel every day for the past few years. It'd be hard to go an entire month without seeing him."

"Bless you, Dr. Greenberg," Lidiya sighed happily. "My Pavel could never find a girl to put up with his chatter about zis theory or zat calcuation. He ees cute man, but too much brain for ze girls around here." She leaned on the counter and smiled coyly. "Alexei ees right. Even I did not think you were real." Suddenly, she slapped her hands onto the counter. "My manners! You look hungry. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, starving," Cat replied.

"Ze kitchen is yours, ze house is yours. Month is much too long time to be perfect guest. Help yourself. Lord knows ze boys do." Lidiya poured a cup of coffee and slid it to her. "Your family does not mind you coming here?"

"Oh, my parents passed away a long time ago," Cat replied as she stood and searched for something to eat. "There was an accident in my home town. The office building they were in collapsed. Crews were renovating the adjoining apartment building. My parents weren't the only ones to die, though."

Lidiya frowned. "But zey were ze ones who mattered to you."

"Thirty-nine people died." Cat plucked fruit from a basket and sliced it. "I'd always wanted to be a doctor, but that was the final nail blow. I knew I'd never be able to do anything else as long as there were people who needed help." She sat back down at the table with her coffee.

Lidiya sipped her own coffee with a thoughtful expression.

"You are not speaking Russian?" Pavel asked as he strolled into the kitchen with his brothers. Lidiya gave him a quizzical look, and he grinned. "She did not tell you? Cat is learning Russian."

"Why on earth would you learn Russian?" Sasha asked. "Is only useful here – and you obwiously can get by without knowing eet." He sat down next to Cat and draped his arm around the back of her chair.

"Sometimes with brain traumas, patients revert to their native language and have a hard time translating or speaking other languages. We – the other medical officer and I – didn't know if he'd have any English left. No one else on the ship speaks Russian, so I started to learn a few things. Please don't quiz me," she added with a wink.

"So eef a German got heemself blown up, you would learn German?" Alexei asked as he slid into the chair on the other side of her. He turned his body so that his knees were brushing against the side of her chair. "You _must_ be brilliant, Decter."

Cat cleared her throat and leaned the other way, but found Sasha leaning toward her as well. "Uh, no. That was just a girlfriend thing, not a doctor thing. They _do_ have translator devices, you know."

"Impressive, little brother," Sasha drawled. He turned to Pavel and grinned. "Is a shame she is cooped up on ze sheep with ze likes of you." He turned back to her. "But you _are_ here a month. I'll teach you more Russian zen you thought existed." He brushed his hand along her cheek, causing her to laugh in surprise.

"Zat's enough," Pavel growled.

"Okay, okay," Sasha laughed. "I kid." He pecked Cat on the cheek before surrendering his seat to Pavel. "Welcome to Russia."

Cat giggled. "Pavel never mentioned his brothers were so charming. It's a good thing I met him by himself. I'm sure it would have been hard to choose between you."

"I never mentioned you eediots at all," Pavel exclaimed. "Zis is why!" He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Cat. "You're animals."

"Afraid we'll steal your girlfriend?" Alexei asked. He sat back in his chair and kicked his feet onto the table. "Tempting, but I hawe my own girlfriend! You meet her later."

"You won't _be_ here later if you don't take your feet off of my table," Lidiya called over her shoulder.

"How'd she do that?" Cat asked.

"Russian mothers," the three brothers replied in unison.


	26. Holidays

The next few weeks were nothing but a dream. While Pavel had always been an independent kid, he was glad to be in the company of his brothers once more. They started every morning with a long run followed by a hearty breakfast and loud, rowdy conversations round the table with Cat and their parents.

During the afternoons the couple joined Sasha and Alexei out and about in town – restaurants, shops, tourist attractions. More than once Sasha jokingly tried to sway Cat to stay in Russia with him instead of heading back to space with Pavel. Each time, she'd consider the proposal before turning back to Pavel, laughing cheerfully, and vowing her loyalty to the youngest of the Chekov brothers.

One evening while Cat and Lidiya went out without the men, Andrei nodded to Pavel, who was locked in a chess match with Alexei. "Zees girl. She ees good." He watched his son across the living room. "She ees more zen good."

"Thanks, Papa," Pavel replied. "I know she is. She saved my life." He offered a lopsided grin before turning back to the chess board. He groaned as his brother snatched his remaining rook.

"She ees to _be_ your life, I theenk," the older man replied in his gruff voice. "Zese theengs don't happen out of ze blue. Only a fool will not marry zat girl."

Alexei raised an eyebrow. "Zat can't be you. Andrei Chekov does not wax poetic. You never say anything so nice about my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend has no brain een her head. Cat, though. Smart girl. Kind girl. Cat is good for him. Pavel leave Russia for Starfleet a boy, come back zis differeent man. She ees good for him. All ze women in space, and he find her? Ees fate." Andrei crossed his arms over his chest. "Ees time to act before your idiot older brother talk her out of eet."

Pavel grinned and sat back. "I'm glad you theenk so, too." He set his bishop down with a definitive tap. "Checkmate."

* * *

Cat awoke to snickering. She sleepily lifted her head and looked around the room. Andrei had delivered their bags into Pavel's childhood room without a second thought to their sleeping arrangements, which Cat had been thankful for. Posters of constellations and space exploration heroes adorned the walls. Various calculators and outdated computer models were stashed in drawers and notebooks of calculations were lined on a large bookshelf. The doctor had poked around out of curiosity and found the assortment endearing.

Now, two figures were chatting at the bedroom door. Assuming one of them was Pavel back from his morning run, she let her head drop back onto the pillow.

"She ees steel sleeping?" Alexei's voice came.

"Mmhmm," Pavel's voice came. He entered the room quietly and stripped off his hat and gloves. The morning run had been exhilarating, as with his talk with Alexei. Watching his girlfriend sleeping made him smile. "She has a lot of sleep to catch up on. The last few months haff been crazy. Attacks, explosions. Lots of patients. Lots of surgeries."

Alexei shrugged. "Well, eet is Christmas. Get her up!"

"Let her sleep," Pavel replied. "She will be up soon." He stripped off his running clothes and reached for jeans. "Zese? Not fancy enough?"

"I theenk zey'll be fine," Alexei grinned. "If ze answer is no because you're wearing jeans, well zen-"

"Shh!" Pavel hissed. "You're right. Will be fine," he reassured himself. "Right?"

Cat, in her half-sleep state, wondered what he was fretting for, but drifted back to sleep.

"Will be fine," Alexei agreed. "Eef she ever gets up!" Suddenly Alexei launched himself onto the bed and began jumping up and down. "Cat! Cat! Cat!"

Cat jerked back awake and automatically reached at the bedside table for her communicator. When she couldn't find it, she looked around wildly. "What is it? Who's hurt?" She cocked her head at Pavel. "Oh. Wait."

"It's Christmas," Alexei called before jumping back to the floor. "Wake up! We've already run five miles. Time for presents."

"Oh, that's right," Cat mumbled as she tried to smooth back her wild hair. She raised an eyebrow at Alexei. "You couldn't have just set an alarm for me?"

"Everyone else is downstairs. Come!" He bounded from the room.

"Sorry. Ees like having a dog," Pavel commented. "Since you're up, let's open gifts!"

Cat nodded and wandered into the bathroom to pull on her own jeans.

* * *

Christmas on the Enterprise wasn't _bad,_ but Pavel was thankful to have Christmas at his parents' home on Earth. The real tree at the center of the living room gave off an amazing fragrance and its lights lit up the room. Nostalgia shone brighter than all the holiday lights in the house, however. The gifts under the tree were expertly and exquisitely wrapped by Lidiya, as they were every year. The simple pleasures of familiar decorations and faces filled Pavel with a warmth he only felt on Earth. The Chekov family was gathered in the living room, sipping coffee and hot chocolate. Cat was leaning sleepily against Pavel, who was more than wide awake thanks to his morning run, the black coffee in his hand, and one present in particular.

"Chreestmas wasn't ze same without you ze past few years," Sasha rumbled to Pavel. "Glad you are home. Zis next mission is only three years?"

"Just three years." Pavel grinned. "Ze Enterprise crew has become family, but zey won't replace my real family. Besides, I call on holidays!"

"Yes you do," Lidiya agreed. "Alexei, pass out ze gifts."

Alexei quickly read out the names on the decorated packages before sliding them across the floor. Cat marveled at his accuracy; small piles were forming at everyone's feet, even hers. "Gifts for _me?_ " she pondered aloud.

"Off course," Andrei scoffed.

"Eef you are important enough to come home for Chreestmas, you are part of ze family." Lidiya smiled kindly. "None off my boys breeng a girl home for a holiday until you."

"No pressure," Sasha chuckled. "You set ze precedent. Either no one will leeve up to you, or no one will be as bad as you."

"Trailblazer," Cat replied enthusiastically. "Either way, you won't forget me."

"Pah, Sasha. Ees good theeng," Lidiya continued. "We want you here! Alexei's girlfriend? You notice she ees not here." She raised an eyebrow at her son, who had stopped passing out presents to make a face at her. "Maybe next year, eef you find someone else. Zat girl? Hopefully someone geeves her a brain for Chreestmas. A wocabulary." Lidiya turned to Cat. "We are not speaking English- she needs help with _Russian._ And zat's the only language she speaks!"

"Eh, we are over anyway, probably," Alexei confessed. "Haffing Cat here geeves me hope zat a beautiful decenter will fall out of ze sky. Ees hard to go back to having conwersations zat you _know_ aren't understood on the other end." He slid the last present to Sasha before returning to his own spot on the couch.

"Here's how eet works," Sasha began, giving Cat a serious look. She returned the gesture and gave him her full attention. He chuckled and waved his hand. "Zere is no rules. Begeen!" With that, the family began excitedly chattering and calling out to each other as they opened gifts.

Pavel kept an eye on Cat. She seemed to be enjoying herself; joking and admiring her gifts. When she grabbed the smallest box from her pile, he stopped ripping the paper from the gift in his hands and watched her as her expression changed.

Cat weighed the gift in her hand. _This looks like a ring box,_ she thought to herself. _This couldn't be an engagement ring. Could it? What if it is? It can't be. Don't get your hopes up._ Cat admired the bow. "Now I know Pavel didn't wrap this."

"Who cares? Ees just bow. Open eet!" Andrei cheered. He clapped his hands.

The way everyone stopped opening their own gifts to watch Cat all but gave away the small box's contents. Her mouth suddenly went dry. Her instincts told her to make a joke to cut the tension, but her mind couldn't conjure one. _Rip it like a bandage._ She tore through the bow and ripped the top of the box off and quickly as she could. However, before she could open it, Pavel managed to scoop the box out of her hand and kneel in front of her in one fluid movement. When the movements stopped, Cat wasn't at all surprised to see Pavel presenting her with a diamond ring.

"No," Cat breathed.

"No?" Pavel repeated in a horrified whisper.

"No, no, I mean, not 'no,'" Cat stuttered. "No way, I mean."

"Zat's worse, I theenk," Andrei mumbled as he exchanged a dejected look with his wife.

Pavel quirked an eyebrow. "Let's start over."

Cat laughed and nodded. Her eyes sparkled and wide, almost maniacal smile threatened to bruise her cheeks.

"Marry me, Cat. I know it hasn't been long, but zis is just- zis is perfect. _You_ are perfect." Pavel's heart seemed to have stopped beating, then continued pounding with renewed vigor. "If you marry me, we won't ever be separated by ze Starfleet. I wouldn't know what to do if zat happened."

Cat realized she'd been nodding the entire time Pavel was speaking. "Yes, of course." She held out her trembling hand for Pavel to put the ring on her. The ring itself was nothing but sparkles.

"I hope zose hands don't shake like zat during surgery," Alexei laughed.

"So you'll have to video conference us in to ze wedding," Sasha stated matter-of-factly.

Cat shook her head. "We could never do it without you."

"Of course not. I was theenking we could enjoy a long engagement," Pavel explained. "We'll get married, but not right away. Perheps in three years? Next time we come home?"

Cat nodded. "Yes! The next time we're home – here in Russia."

Andrei nodded. "Welcome to family. Alexei, why you don't marry nice girl? Be more like your brother!"

Alexei groaned and plopped back onto the couch before raising an eyebrow at the couple. "Welcome to ze family, Cat. You haff ruined my life."

* * *

New Year's Eve found Dr. Greenberg curled up against Pavel on the couch as the couple watched a broadcast of celebration preparations around the world.

"Zis ball drop – haff you been to zat? Ze American one?" Pavel asked. He looked down when Cat didn't reply. "Oh," he whispered to no one in particular. His new fiance was sleeping with her head resting on his shoulder. He craned his neck to see her face. She briefly batted open an eye, studied him, then drifted back to sleep.

 _I cannot be marrying her,_ Pavel thought in disbelief. The harsh vibrating of his communicator broke his awe. He flipped it open and was surprised to see Captain Kirk's name as the message sender.

" _Happy New Year. Hope you and Cat are enjoying Russia, and that you're all healed. Eternally sorry. The admiral refused my resignation. I don't deserve crew members like you. New bottle of scotch will be waiting in your locker. See you in two weeks!"_

Pavel grinned. All was well once again on the Enterprise. Resting his cheek against Cat's head, he sighed joyfully. All was well on earth.


	27. To Boldly Ho

The halls of the Enterprise were everything Pavel had been surprised to find he missed during the time at home in Russia. The electronic lights, the sterile paneling, the cleanliness, the brightly colored uniforms. It all felt like home. He sighed happily "Home."

"Mr. Chekov," an engineer waved to him.

"Hi, hi! Good to see you," Pavel called back. He turned and found Cat was catching up with her nurses. He hoisted her bag over his shoulder along with his own and left her to chat. When he turned a corner, he nearly collided with Captain Kirk.

"Mr. Chekov," Kirk greeted him. He smiled widely and extended his hand enthusiastically.

Pavel ignored it, dropped the bags, and threw his arms around Jim. "Keptain Kirk." He stepped back and embraced the captain by the shoulders. "You look good. Much better!"

"Same for you," Jim replied. He looked him up and down. "How are you? How's your head? How's everything else?"

"I'm great, I'm fine," Pavel brushed off the captain's concern. "All better. All in ze past."

Jim nodded. "Not for me, but I'm glad you're past it. Really. Thank you, Mr. Chekov."

"There you are," Cat's voice came.

Pavel turned and smiled at her as she bounced toward them. "Zere she ees," he whispered more to himself than anyone. Jim heard it and smiled fondly at the navigator.

"Jim! Hey!" When she reached the men, Cat hugged the captain. "How are you? Any Lyme symptoms lately?"

"None at all," Jim answered. "Thank you." He pressed his hands together and bowed his head. "Thank you, thank you."

"I'm glad you're back. I _knew_ that wasn't you. At least things will be back to normal this time around, yeah?" She swatted a flyaway strand out of her eyes.

Jim snorted and blushed, then froze when he saw a bright sparkle at the doctor's left hand. "Cat," he exclaimed. He chuckled in surprise.

"Hmm?" Cat replied, looking between Jim and Pavel. "What'd I miss?"

"Your – your hand?" Jim questioned. He caught the smirk on Pavel's face and turned back to Cat, his own wide smile. "You two got engaged?"

"Oh, yes!" Cat laughed, pulling her hand up again and showing Jim the ring. "Christmas morning proposal."

"You're joking. That's fantastic. That's amazing." Jim grinned. He clapped Pavel on the shoulder. "Good job, Kid. Way to not give up just because some dick was jealous. That's great!" He raised an eyebrow at Cat. "Have fun telling Bones. He's a hopeless romantic."

"Yeah, he's definitely the definition of romantic," Cat snickered.

"Let's go unpack, zen we can tell everyone!" Pavel exclaimed. He'd promised himself he'd play it cool, but Jim's excitement was contagious. The sheer joy at their happiness was something he wanted to experience with their other friends. His Enterprise family.

"Okay," Cat giggled. "See you around, Jim."

He waved as the couple trotted down the hall to what he assumed would be their shared living quarters. As he turned back for his own apartment, he laughed aloud, completely relieved that Cat had solved his medical mystery and saved her relationship with Chekov.

* * *

Jaylah blinked in the dim bar light. "What means this? Engaged?"

"We're going to get _married_!" Pavel exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Cat's waist and squeezing her.

The bridge crew and the usual troublemakers had gathered at the bar for a reunion. Things had quickly taken an excited turn when Uhura spotted Cat's engagement ring and nearly fainted.

Jaylah nodded, then narrowed her eyes. "Okay. What means married?"

"They're going to be stuck together forever and eventually have some wee lads and lasses," Scotty explained quickly. "Good one, then! When's the wedding?"

"At the end of this mission when we get back to Earth," Cat laughed. "Don't get too antsy. We've got plenty of time to plan."

"For the wedding, it will be _amazing,"_ Jaylah promised, suddenly excited at the mention of a party. "I will help. I will be your maiden! Then you be mine. Montgomery Scotty, let's have a wedding."

Scotty choked on his drink.

"Yeah, Mr. Scott," Uhura giggled. "You could have your wedding planned and done by the time we get back to Earth for the Chekov wedding."

Scotty took another drink and kept chugging as everyone stared at him.

"I'm excited to hear what ze nurses will say," Pavel interjected, hoping to save Mr. Scott.

"I'm sure it'll be pandemonium," Cat admitted.

"Yeah. Hopefully there's no sick crew members because none of you will be able to channel your focus," Bones scoffed.

"Quit being grumpy," Uhura snapped at him.

"Oh, I'm happy," Bones growled. "Look at them," he said, waving a hand at the couple. "They're perfect. They're young. They're beautiful." He rolled his eyes. "Here's to the all-American couple." He raised his glass.

"Half-American," Spock interrupted the toast. "I believe Mr. Chekov is of Russian-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the group chided.

Cat grinned back at Pavel. "Haven't changed your mind, have you?"

"Of course not," Pavel murmured into her lips. He made to kiss her, but a dinging on everyone's communicators stole his attention away.

"Hey, bridge crew," Captain Kirk's voice came. "Looks like we're about to warp into a meteor belt that wasn't there a few minutes ago. Something's up. Let's get to work!"

The bridge crew grumbled, drained their drinks, and threw cash on the bar.

"Time to boldly go," Pavel said, a knowing twinkle in his eye.

A/N: _For Anton Yelchin. As retold my those who loved him, a beautiful soul with a beautiful mind._


End file.
